The Athletic’s Tom Bogert wrote after the Boys in Gold’s Supporters’ Shield win that the story of their season has been “boring excellence” and “predictability.” These descriptors might sound uninspiring, but in reality, they’re the highest form of praise: Nashville puts opponents in a vice-grip, strangles them out of opportunities and makes them pay, and does so routinely. The Boys in Gold have only trailed twice at home all year — they won one of those games and drew the other — and has lost just three times in MLS total, all of which by a solitary goal. No squad has been better at keeping opponents at bay than Nashville, an ability which has been just as vital to its success as the explosiveness of its offense.
Form favors the hosts, too. Nashville is unbeaten in its last seven matches and owns an aggregate 18-4 goal advantage, including four shutouts. No keeper has surrendered fewer goals per 90 minutes this season than Schwake, who also leads the league in save percentage. His 10.3 goals prevented, per FotMob, trails only Seattle’s Andrew Thomas and New England’s Matt Turner. The defenders in front of him have played at an elite level as well, with both Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi well in the conversation for MLS Defender of the Year. Holding midfielder Matthew Corcoran and left back Reed Baker-Whiting each earned a spot on the league’s 22 Under 22, highlighting the country’s best young players, while right back Andy Najar sits second on the team in assists.