AUSTIN, Texas — Six goals in three games.
Those are elite, goal-hero numbers. Sam Surridge flashes a subtle smile when you ask about his hefty tally in Nashville SC’s run to a first U.S. Open Cup crown – and a first trophy in club history.
“I always want to score goals, and scoring in a Final is special,” he said, with the smell of cigar smoke and celebratory beer-spray hanging heavy in the concrete corridors of Q2 Stadium in Austin, where the tournament top-scorer bagged the winner from the spot in a 2-1 win. “Winning a Final, like this, on the road, with this group of guys, it’s really something.”
The last time a player scored as many goals in an Open Cup campaign was way back in 2019, when Darwin Quintero hit six in Minnesota United’s run to that year’s Final. However, the Colombian ace’s sextet came in the span of five games, not three.
Surridge, with a virtual lock on top-scorer honors before the Final even kicked off, averaged a stunning two goals per game in this 2025 Open Cup for Nashville SC.
The soft-spoken Englishman – tall, rangy and fantastic in the air – won’t toot his own horn about any of that. He’ll pass the credit on to his teammates, in keeping with the all-for-one identity of this Nashville team, while outlining what it is he hopes to bring to the party.
“I don’t fuss too much about my overall goals tally,” said the 27-year-old striker, whose previous clubs include Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League. “But I do want to score in every game I play in. As a striker, that’s just my job – and I always want to help the team that way.”
Nashville head coach B.J. Callaghan, however, will brag on Surridge's behalf.
“You need your big players to step up in big moments, in meaningful moments,” Callaghan said. “[Surridge's] a guy who gets that first goal, that second goal. He scores when it counts.”
In a group that lives by Callaghan’s gospel of “out-teaming” other teams and fighting for something “larger than ourselves,” Surridge’s goals stand out. And it’s no surprise he picked out his third goal in a bruising Semifinal against Philadelphia Union (3-1) for special consideration among his sensational six in this Open Cup campaign.
“That really was one I liked scoring,” he said of his exquisite full-volley on the end of a long ball upfield that nestled in the extreme top corner of the net to seal his hat-trick. “I saw the goalkeeper stayed on his line, and I only had a split-second to shift from thinking I would head it, to making contact with the side of my foot. But then it went and flew in the corner.”
“It was a nice finish,” he said, almost bashfully.
His two other goals in that Semifinal were more in keeping with his excellent-in-the-air style. A pair of headers, no less effective than his delicate volley in getting the job done on the day. Those three against Philly came fast on the heels of his 2025 Open Cup debut double in the come-from-behind Quarterfinal rout (5-2) of D.C. United.
And his goal in the Final, a brave penalty straight up the middle, is one Surridge will always remember.
“Doing your job in a Final, getting to help and to celebrate like this, it’s something you don’t forget,” he said as the stadium emptied. “Years from now, people will look back on this first trophy for Nashville, and to be a part of bringing it, and to be able to look back on that — it’s something special.”
One gets the sense that Surridge, the undisputed goal king of our 2025 U.S. Open Cup, isn’t done yet. In addition to his six Cup goals, his 22 in MLS play for playoff-bound Nashville has him third in the MLS scoring charts – one off LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and two behind Inter Miami legend Lionel Messi.
Fontela is editor-in-chief of usopencup.com. Follow him at @jonahfontela on X/Twitter.
