Sam Surridge posted a hat trick and Cristian Espinoza had a goal and an assist as Nashville SC raced past visiting Orlando City SC for a 5-0 victory on Saturday.
Surridge, who had two hat tricks in a 24-goal season in 2025, scored once in the first half and twice in the second to help Nashville (4-0-1, 13 points) continue its unbeaten start. Brian Schwake (one save) tallied his third clean sheet.
Orlando (1-4-0, 3 points) mustered just one shot on target to Nashville’s nine. Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau made four saves but allowed five goals in Orlando’s second 5-0 loss in the last three games. Saturday marked the club’s second game with interim head coach Martin Perelman after mutually parting ways with Oscar Pareja.
After Nashville’s Alex Muyl’s header was saved by Crepeau in the game’s opening minutes, Espinoza fired in his second goal of the season to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at the five-minute mark. Espinoza took a pass from Andy Najar and sent in a screamer from the right of the box over the outstretched Crepeau.
Nashville had three shot attempts before Orlando’s first — a Duncan McGuire shot 14 minutes in.
Following Nolan Miller’s yellow card for aggressive play, Surridge’s penalty kick doubled Nashville’s lead 28 minutes in.
Surridge and Patrick Yazbek each had chances to tack on, but Crepeau saved both shots to preserve the two-goal halftime deficit.
Surridge extended the lead to 3-0 10 minutes into the second half, as he rebounded a loose ball in the box, scoring a left-footed shot.
The Nashville star continued his dominant outing, getting a pass from Espinoza and scoring from the left of the box in the 67th minute to push the margin to four. Warren Madrigal’s second goal of the season gave Nashville a 5-0 lead in the 80th minute.
–Field Level Media
