The New England Revolution kicked off their 2026 campaign in the Music City with a matchup against the reigning Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champions, Nashville SC, at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee. 

It was the debut of new Revolution manager Marko Mitrovic, who took charge following the ousting of Caleb Porter toward the end of the 2025 season. New England entered the match with a win, a loss, and a draw in its last three meetings with Nashville. 

Nashville applied pressure immediately, putting a shot on goal in the opening two minutes that keeper Matt Turner deflected away with a right-handed save. The early attempt foreshadowed the night ahead for the Revs. Just three minutes later, off a Nashville corner, forward Sam Surridge found the back of the net after a ball pinballed around the edge of the goal area. 

Surridge struck again in the 16th minute when midfielder Edvard Tagseth found him on a rush. He fired a right-footed shot that Turner saved, but the rebound went directly back to the sliding forward, who headed it past Turner for his second goal of the match. 

New England began to build some momentum in the following minutes. The Revs’ first scoring opportunity came in the 26th minute when Carles Gil found a streaking Leo Campana, whose left-footed shot sailed above the crossbar. 

Nashville continued to pile on, though. In the 39th minute, Hany Mukhtar capitalized on a deflection off a pair of teammates and placed the ball into the upper left side of the net to make it 3–0, which held through halftime. 

New England lost defender Will Sands in the 45th minute when a collision following a corner left him on the pitch for nearly five minutes. 

The Revolution came out of the locker room with renewed energy in the second half. In the 47th minute, Gil found Campana alone at the top of the penalty area, and he rifled a low shot past Nashville keeper Brian Schwake. 

The momentum was short-lived. A minute later, Surridge’s hat-trick attempt was stopped by Turner’s right foot, but the rebound fell to an opportunistic Waren Madrigal, who finished to put Nashville ahead 4–1, a lead it held until the final whistle. 

The Revolution were never fully in the match after Nashville’s quick start. New England struggled to maintain possession early, and Nashville finished with a 14–4 advantage in shots, including an 8–1 edge in shots on target. 

New England Starting XI: 4-2-3-1 

  • Goalkeeper – Matt Turner 
  • Center Back – Keegan Hughes 
  • Center Back – Andrew Ferrell 
  • Defensive Midfielder – Matthew Polster 
  • Attacking Midfielder – Carlos Gil 
  • Defensive Midfielder – Brooklyn Raines 
  • Left Midfielder – Griffin Yow 
  • Striker - Leo Campana 
  • Right Midfielder – Dor Turgeman 
  • Right Wing Back – Ethan Kohler  
  • Left Wing Back – Will Sands 

Substitutions 

Nashville: 

Alex Muyl in – Warren Madrigal out (61’) 

Matthew Cochran in – Patrick Yazbek out (68’) 

Josh Bauer in – Andy Najar out (68’) 

Aheem Qasem in – Cristian Espinoza out (83’) 

Bryan Acosta in – Edvard Tagseth (90’)  

New England: 

Tanner Beason in – Will Sands out (45’) 

Luca Langoni in – Dor Tugeman out (61’) 

Malcom Fry in – Griffin Yow out (68’)  

Alhassan Yusef in – Keegan Hughes (82’) 

Ilay Feingold in – Matthew Polster out (82’) 

Discipline 

Yellow Card: Griffin Yow (48’)