NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sam Surridge scored three goals — his third multi-goal game this season — on Saturday to help Nashville SC beat Orlando City 5-0.
Surridge leads MLS with seven goals this season, two more than Vancouver’s Brian White and Petar Musa of FC Dallas. The 27-year-old Surridge, who scored a career-high 24 goals last season, has three career hat tricks and scored a club-record four goals in a 7-2 win over Chicago last season.
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Brian Schwake finished with a save and had his third shutout of the season for Nashville.
Cristian Espinoza, who also had an assist, opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Warren Madrigal, a 21-year-old rookie forward, scored his first goal in MLS in the 80th to make it 5-0.
Surridge converted from the penalty spot in the 28th minute and added goals in the 55th and 67th minutes. On the counter-attack, Alex Muyl ran onto a pass from Hany Mukhtar at the edge of the penalty box and, as he was falling, tapped it to Surridge for a first-touch finish from the center of the area. After a failed clearance attempt by Orlando, Surridge slammed a first-touch shot into the net from just inside the penalty box to give Nashville (4-0-1) a four-goal lead.
Maxime Crépeau returned from a one-game suspension (red card) and had four saves for Orlando City (1-4-0). The 31-year-old, who helped Los Angeles FC to Supporter’s Shield and MLS Cup titles in 2022, has allowed 11 goals this season.
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Espinoza blasted a shot from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box that skipped off the bottom of the crossbar into the net to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.
Nashville had 58% possession and outshot Orlando City 17-10, 9-1 on target.
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