The streak is over.
Nashville SC is not invincible. Orlando City SC proved that July 25 when it ended Nashville's franchise-best MLS winning steak at five matches.
Tyrese Spicer scored in the 72nd minute, but Orlando City (6-2-9, 20 points) also did it with defense against the team with the best record (12-3-2, 39 points) in MLS. Nashville managed just three shots to Orlando's 10 at Inter&Co Stadium in Florida.
An injured Cristian Espinoza did not play for Nashville SC, but coach B.J. Callaghan refused to lean on his absence as an excuse for the loss.
"We understand this isn't the best version of ourselves," Callaghan said. "But we're OK with that. We are constantly striving to improve, and we'll keep working to improve all sorts of areas."
The World
Cup break wasn't a factor, Nashville defenseman Josh Bauer said. The team's two victories after the break were proof of that.
"I don't think we're sounding any alarm bells over this," he said. "Anytime you have a break that long, especially one that we're not used to having in the middle of the season like that, it's going to be challenging coming back.
"But I felt like we had a pretty good buildup with some exhibition games and friendlies."
He said the first two wins — both 1-0 against Atlanta United FC and CF Montreal — after the break weren't pretty but "got the job done."
Nashville SC's next game is 6:30 p.m. CT Aug. 1 against D.C. United at Geodis Park.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC not 'best version of themselves' in streak-ending loss
