Nashville SC gets a point — and a learning experience — at FC Dallas

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Mar 1, 2026 - 11:20

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Nashville SC gets a point — and a learning experience — at FC Dallas

The cliché holds truer when your star striker and MVP finalist is out sick and you have to survive the final 10 minutes a man down after a red card.

Easy points away from home don't exist in MLS, a sentiment that Nashville SC proved after its 0-0 tie with FC Dallas on Feb. 28 in Frisco, Texas. It's true even for a team that outscored opponents 11-1 in its first three games of the season.

"One of those tricky ones," defender Dan Lovitz said after the match at Toyota Stadium. "We play to win every game, regardless if we're home or away, and I think that we're good enough to come to these type of places and play like ourselves and get three points.

"But all that being said, second week into the season, two teams that were coming off of a win and had a lot of energy in the game. It wasn't the cleanest, it wasn't the prettiest, very combative, and that was sort of reflected in the flow of the game."

Lovitz and his teammates on the back line were happy with a shutout, the first for Nashville in its past 17 games against MLS opposition dating to July 2025. But more difficulties presented themselves in attack.

Without an ailing Sam Surridge, Nashville (1-0-1, four points) struggled to find rhythm. Coach B.J. Callaghan said that Dallas' back five on defense presented a challenge Nashville hadn't seen yet. In addition, Callaghan changed the formation from a 4-2-2-2 to a 4-3-3 with Matthew Corcoran joining Eddi Tagseth and Patrick Yazbek in midfield, though he said he was thinking about a three-man midfield even before knowing Surridge couldn't play.

"Matt did a good job sitting in the middle of the field, getting the ball left and right and also trying to open it up," Callaghan said. "I thought, especially in the first half, the deep runs from Eddi and Patrick were really opening up the game for us."

The major issue was finishing, as it often is when a team has 56% possession and doesn't win. From the 70th to the 80th minute, Nashville had three opportunities to take the lead with Hany Mukhtar dribbling in transition and Cristian Espinoza on his right, but couldn't record a shot on goal. Corcoran's second yellow card in the 84th minute all but ended Nashville's hopes of earning more than one point.

"I don't need to talk to Cristian, he knows that he should have finished them," Callaghan said. "That's no problem. We're going to keep getting him into good goal-scoring chances."

Nashville beat the New England Revolution 4-1 in its MLS opener on Feb. 21, sandwiched between a pair of wins over outmanned Atletico Ottawa in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Drawing with Dallas (1-0-1, four points) came as a reminder that things won't stay that simple for an entire season.

"We're certainly nowhere near being a final product," Callaghan said. "But there's a lot of positives to build on."

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on X/Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC ties FC Dallas despite challenges on the road