Sam Surridge may have scored the biggest goal for Nashville SC this season.
With Inter Miami CF leading 2-1 over Nashville SC in the final minutes at Nu Stadium in Miami on Sept. 12, Surridge scored the equalizing goal in the 91st minute to salvage a 2-2 draw, pouncing on a rebound on the back side of the goal to score his second goal of the match.
"It's just another way to pressure test our mentality," coach B.J. Callaghan said afterward. "Really proud of the group for digging in and doing it."
The tying goal saved the day for Nashville, mostly because it prevented Miami from gaining significant ground in the Supporters' Shield race. Entering the night, Nashville (16-6-3, 54 points) was nine points ahead of Miami (12-9-4, 45 points) in the Eastern
Conference and seven points ahead of Vancouver for the Supporters' Shield, the trophy given to the league's top regular-season team.
For now, that lead will stand, but only thanks to a four-point swing on Surridge's goal.
"(Surridge) was intentional with making runs in the penalty box tonight, getting front of the goal, and he got rewarded," Callaghan said.
Surridge now leads Nashville with 15 goals, which ranks third in MLS behind Messi (19) and FC Dallas' Petar Musa (18). Since his arrival in 2023, Surridge has 68 goals in 112 matches in all competitions for Nashville SC.
CLUTCH https://t.co/hRpOaWASez pic.twitter.com/4icGlco7My
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) September 13, 2026
"That's part of his responsibility is to score goals. I'm really happy he was able to get two tonight," Callaghan said.
Realistically, Nashville didn't deserve a draw. Miami owned 58% of ball possession throughout and had five shots on target to Nashville's three. As he often is, Messi was particularly dangerous — his goal was another sensational curved shot that goalkeeper Brian Schwake had no chance to stop, and it took a couple hits off the goal post to keep him from adding a second goal moments later.
But Nashville found a way to hold off Miami for another day and maintain control of the Supporters' Shield race.
Next up: Nashville hosts Chicago Fire FC at Geodis Park on Sept. 19.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com, follow him on X at@alexdaugherty1 or check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Sam Surridge may have saved Nashville SC's shot at MLS Supporters' Shield
