Nashville SC 2 - 2 New York City FC 2025 MLS Regular Season - Matchday 17 Date: Saturday, May 15, 2025 | Kickoff: 4:40pm ET Location: GEODIS Park | Nashville, TN Attendance: 28,351
New York City FC battled back from a two-goal deficit to secure a 2-2 draw against Nashville SC. Sam Surridge struck twice to give the hosts a halftime lead, but Hannes Wolf responded with a brace of his own — including a dramatic 87th-minute equalizer — as Keaton Parks helped ignite a spirited second-half comeback.
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New York City’s record in this series against Nashville is 2-3-2 (W-L-D).
The team has eight goals scored and ten conceded over seven games.
When playing on the road against Nashville, the record shifts to 0-3-1. The Club has recorded three goals scored on the road but has conceded eight.
This is the first time New York City has captured points at GEODIS Park in the series, after previously recording losses when playing on the road.
This is only the second draw in the series, and the first since October 2021.
Forward Alonso Martínez (1G), Midfielder Keaton Parks (1G, 2A), Forward Hannes Wolf (2G, 1A), Defender Mitja Ilenič (1A), and Midfielder Maxi Moralez (1A) are the five players on the current roster to record goal contributions against Nashville.
Moralez recorded his first goal contribution against Nashville this afternoon when he was credited with a second assist on Wolf’s goal.
This is the second straight match in the series where New York City has scored two goals or more against Nashville.
New York City has scored five goals and conceded three in the last two matches against Nashville.
When playing Chicago Fire FC, New England Revolution, Inter Miami, and Nashville SC, the opponents scored first, but New York City rallied to capture at least one point from all four opponents for a record of 2-0-2 (W-L-D).
In total, they received eight points from these matches.
Four different players scored in these matches to put New York City back in the fight: Mitja Ilenič and Forwards Mounsef Bakrar, Julián Fernández, and Hannes Wolf.
Similarly, four players provided assists to those goals: Maxi Moralez (2, including a second assist), Hannes Wolf (2, including a second assist), Keaton Parks (2), and Defender Justin Haak (1).
Other players that scored in these matches to extend the leads for New York City include Forward Alonso Martínez (3) and Wolf.
New York City ends the month of May with a 3-2-2 record in MLS play over seven matches.
On Matchday 17, Hannes Wolf, who plays with the number 17 for the Club, scored a brace to help put the team back into the match.
This is Wolf’s fourth goal contribution in the last three matches (2G v. Nashville today and 1G and 1A v. Chicago).
This is Wolf’s second brace of the season, with the first coming against Atlanta United and now the second against Nashville.
Wolf now has six goals scored this season, with eight total goal contributions (6G, 2A).
Wolf has surpassed his goalscoring tally of last season (5G in 34 games played).
Keaton Parks recorded his first assists of the season today, providing two to Wolf.
He now has six assists in MLS Regular Season play in his New York City FC career.
Maxi Moralez was credited with a second assist, after contributing to Wolf’s first goal.
This is Moralez’s third goal contribution in the last four matches (1A v. Nashville, 1A v. Chicago Fire, 1G v. the New York Red Bulls).
Goalkeeper Matt Freese, Justin Haak, and Maxi Moralez have started every match for New York City FC this season and have starting streaks that extend to previous seasons.
Freese has started 59 matches (08/30/2023 - 05/31/2025).
With today’s start, Freese is now tied for the longest start streak in franchise history. Goalkeeper Josh Saunders (05/03/2015 - 10/16/2016) and Defender Alexander Callens (03/05/2017 - 08/18/2018) are the players he is tied with, for a streak of 59 consecutive games played.
Moralez has started 22 matches (09/21/2024 - 05/31/2025).
And Haak has started 21 (09/28/2024 - 05/31/2025).
This season, New York City FC has six players that have featured in all 17 matches, including Hannes Wolf, Maxi Moralez, Matt Freese, Justin Haak, Midfielder Julián Fernández, and Forward Agustín Ojeda.
Five of the six players have games-played streaks that stretch beyond this season, including Freese (59, 08/30/2023 -05/31/2025), Wolf (51, 02/24/2024 - 05/31/2025), Moralez (28, 07/17/2024 - 05/31/2025), Haak (21, 09/28/2024 - 05/31/2025), Fernández (19, 10/06/2024 - 05/31/2025), and Ojeda (17, 02/22/2025 - 05/31/2025).
NEW YORK CITY FC COACH PASCAL JANSEN
On Midfielder Hannes’ Wolf season... “Hannes [Wolf] is in a good place at the moment. He's very important for the team in-and-out of possession — today also getting us back into the game. So overall, I'm very pleased with his performance. Given what happened at halftime, going into the second half, we needed a better performance, and Hannes was one of the guys who stepped up.”
On the substitutions and Keaton Parks’ performance... “Keaton [Parks] was very important for us. It was a decision a little bit on the edge, maybe even a little over the edge, because Keaton hasn't had a proper training schedule for a while now. But he was prepared to have some part in this game — we extended that part by bringing him in at halftime. Happy we did because his performance helped us get back into the match, and now his foot can rest a little bit more and hopefully we can get that back to normal. The other subs were quite clear because if we're not that strong offensively, we have to be very firm off the ball. We didn’t look good twice when we conceded goals in the principles that we hold ourselves accountable for. So those subs had to be made. A big compliment also to Strahinja [Tanasijevic] — he hasn't played for a while, and he came on the pitch and brought the aggressiveness that we were missing in the first half.”
NEW YORK CITY MIDFIELDER HANNES WOLF
On the mentality of the team... “I think the biggest change, as I said, is the belief. I think we know in almost every game we are able to score, no matter where [we are]. I think we had many games this season where we didn't concede goals, and even if we concede, we have big belief in our offensive play and our defense is strong. I think we are a group of young players who stick together, and this is the reason why we can come back from two-nil down.”
On the expectation going into the second half of the season... “As I said, there's still more work to do. But I think you can see, if you take out the last game against Houston, there's big progress. I think you can see more and more the way we want to play. As I said, the mentality is good. I don't know—when I first arrived, it wasn’t easy to come back when we were down by two goals on the road. But as I said, the mentality in the team has changed a little bit; we're getting better. Now it's time to work on our fitness again and recover a little bit in the summer. I think everything is possible for us this year. Our goals are always high. We are a young team with big goals, and we just try to keep going.”
Goal - NYC - 54' - Hannes Wolf [17] -
Goal - NYC - 87' - Hannes Wolf [17] -
27’ - NSH - Sam Surridge [9]
Scored with a right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 13%. Assisted by Hany Mukhtar [10], second assist by Matthew Corcoran [16].
41’ - NSH - Sam Surridge [9]
Scored with a right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 13% to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Alex Muyl [19], second assist by Matthew Corcoran [16].
54’ - NYC - Hannes Wolf [17]
Scored with a right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 43% to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Keaton Parks [55], second assist by Maxi Moralez [10].
87’ - NYC - Hannes Wolf [17]
Scored with a left footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 28% to the central bottom zone. Assisted by Keaton Parks [55].
New York City FC wrapped up a demanding May schedule with a trip to take on Nashville SC on Saturday afternoon.
Looking to bounce back from a midweek defeat, City made one change to the starting XI that faced Houston, with Agustín Ojeda coming in for Julián Fernández.
The hosts entered the match in strong home form, and it showed early as they carved out several promising chances.
The best of those opportunities fell to Walker Zimmerman, who found space on a corner thanks to a clever run. His header bounced into the turf and drifted just wide of Matt Freese’s post.
City nearly struck at the other end when Birk Risa delivered a beautifully curled ball in behind the defense, putting Alonso Martínez through on goal. Joe Willis stood tall to deny the Costa Rican.
Nashville eventually found the breakthrough in the 27th minute. Hany Mukhtar’s slick backheel released Sam Surridge, who fired low past Freese to make it 1-0.
City almost responded through Thiago Martins, but his header was kept out by a strong save from Willis. Instead, Nashville doubled their lead before the break. This time, Alex Muyl cut the ball back into the box, and Surridge was again on hand to finish with confidence.
Jansen made two changes at halftime, introducing Strahinja Tanasijević and Keaton Parks for Tayvon Gray and Aidan O’Neill.
The changes had an almost immediate impact. In the 54th minute, Parks showed quick feet during a crisp buildup, playing in an overlapping Hannes Wolf, who tucked his shot past Willis to halve the deficit.
Momentum shifted further in City’s favor minutes later when Freese launched a rapid counterattack. Parks picked out Martínez, whose driven shot from a tight angle rippled the side netting.
Nashville pushed to restore their two-goal advantage. Surridge struck the post just after the hour, and Mukhtar nearly buried the rebound, only for Freese to make a brilliant save on the line.
City continued to press. Risa smashed a free kick off the crossbar before Jansen made a trio of changes—Nico Cavallo, Mounsef Bakrar, and Julián Fernández replacing Risa, Maxi Moralez, and Ojeda.
Martínez went close again with a low drive that skimmed past the post.
The breakthrough finally came in the 87th minute, with Parks once again involved. Wolf latched onto a bouncing ball inside the area and got the slightest of touches to steer the ball beyond a helpless Willis, completing City’s comeback and securing a well-earned point.
