NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Twenty-two games into the 2026 season, Nashville SC aren't just leading the Supporters' Shield race. They're setting a pace MLS has never seen before.
Saturday's 4-0 rout of FC Cincinnati pushed the Coyotes to 52 points, the most any team in league history has collected at this stage, while keeping them on pace to challenge Inter Miami CF's single-season points record.
Chasing history
With 12 matches left in the regular season, Nashville's 2.36 points per game puts them on pace for roughly 80 points, surpassing Inter Miami's 2024 record of 74 points. Despite their torrid pace, though, head coach B.J. Callaghan isn't ready to put a number on what success looks like.
"If I answer that question, that means I put limitations on our team," Callaghan said when asked about Nashville's ceiling. "We're about turning the page every single day, getting better in areas that we need to. And when I say getting better, the things that we're really good at, we wanna be elite at."
Driving Nashville's historic run is one of the league's most productive attacking trios: Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, and Cristian Espinoza.
Mukhtar and Surridge each found the back of the net against Cincinnati, while Espinoza logged his league-leading 11th assist. In all competitions in 2026, they've combined for 53 goal contributions.
"When we talk about roles and responsibilities and what these guys are supposed to do on the field, part of their job description is to create goal-scoring chances, score goals, set up goals," said Callaghan. "They're given that opportunity to do that because they've got guys behind them that are also doing their job.
"And I think that's when you see their success at doing what they're asked to do, because other guys are also doing it, and that's that collectiveness that we're constantly searching for."
Do it for Dolly
Before the match, Nashville SC honored Tennessee legend Dolly Parton. The country music icon and philanthropist died Tuesday at age 80, prompting an outpouring of tributes in Tennessee and around the world.
The tribute carried added resonance on Nashville's Kids Night, given Parton's decades-long commitment to children's literacy through her Imagination Library.
"She's an iconic Nashvillian and Tennessean... We're fortunate because people know who Nashville is because Dolly Parton brought Nashville to the world, and put that on the map a little bit," said Callaghan. "You combine it also with Kids Night, and if we can take what Dolly Parton's values were, which are values of this city, and give them to that younger generation that was here tonight – kindness, fairness, positivity, but also doing it with a sense of humor and fun – I think that's a great night, a win for Nashville.
"If a younger kids' group could do five percent of the impact that she had in the world, the world will be a better place for the next generation."
