AUSTIN, Texas – They say winning on the road is hard.
Winning a Final on that road is even harder.
Nashville SC accomplished just that feat on Wednesday night, beating Austin FC 2-1 to become Champions of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Q2 Stadium. The intense bout, made even more intense by the seventh-largest attendance in tournament Final history, set incredibly high stakes for two young expansion clubs in search of their first piece of silverware.
Yet, even in that type of tough atmosphere, with those lofty expectations, and with most of the boisterous crowd going against them, Nashville SC weren’t fazed. In fact, the visitors were the first side to attempt a shot during the match, a header from midfielder Alex Muyl from the center of the box that missed wide in the ninth minute. The visitors also struck first, momentarily silencing the home supporters when a volley from 30-year-old captain and 2023 MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar lasered into the back of the net.
It was also the visiting side that was able to pull ahead again – and maintain that lead to the end. After Austin FC equalized just before the half, Nashville SC responded. The Boys in Gold didn’t panic on the set of a difficult road environment. They found the eventual game-winner off a Sam Surridge penalty kick in the 60th minute and held off a hungry Austin side for the 30+ minutes that followed.
“We prepare the same way for every single game,” said Nashville head coach B.J. Callaghan, who preached a gospel of “out-teaming other teams” in the build-up to this historic Open Cup Final. “We stuck to the way we do it. Credit to these guys for putting a big performance in a tough environment.”
Austin FC colors certainly dominated the stands at Q2 Stadium – club minority owner and minister of culture Matthew McConaughey said the city was “thirsty” for this game. Though, as it turned out, there were some other Southern fans ready to gulp a full glass of heady Open Cup brew. The golden group of traveling fans from Tennessee were easy to pick out in a sea of green and black. They were loud, they were chanting, and they brought the energy for their team far away from home.
According to Callaghan, the fans that packed the yellow slice in the stands gave Nashville players extra motivation, especially after the group conceded right before halftime and needed to find the go-ahead goal that would lead to a win.
“Give credit to the Austin fans. They made it a difficult environment for us. But at the same time, it needs to be recognized that part of that large crowd is a massive traveling crowd from Nashville,” said Callaghan, who had a memorable (and undefeated) run of seven games as interim head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team in 2023. “We heard them. We felt them at the end of the game when you need that extra boost or that hand on your back, and we were able to get that.”
Although it would certainly be a favorable situation to play for a title at home – six of the last eight Open Cup Finals have been won by the home team – Nashville SC managed to transport some local flavor to Texas for this massive moment.
The result? A poised Nashville performance and a return to their city as Champions.
“We did it for something bigger than ourselves,” said Nashville and USMNT center-back Walker Zimmerman, very much in-line with the massaging of his coach. “There’s a lot of pride that the guys can take away from performing like that and playing for something outside of themselves, whether it's the team or family or the city.
“It’s something really special,” added the 32-year-old defender, who was a member – as a much younger man – of the 2016 FC Dallas side that lifted the Open Cup.
“We constructed this team, the way that we play, to embody the city of Nashville and to represent the city of Nashville,” Callaghan concluded after the game. “Whether they were here, whether they were at the stadium, whether they were at home, I hope that they are proud of the group – these guys and the whole team – in not only winning the trophy, but the way that we go about our work every single day.”
