Why Nashville SC feels 'no stress' going into fourth MLS Cup Playoffs in four seasons

Nashville SC is about to join two of Major League Soccer's more exclusive groups.

Just four expansion teams have appeared in the MLS Cup playoffs in each of their first four seasons. Just four teams have reached the playoffs each of the last four years. Nashville is the only team that can claim both.

Nashville, the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, will face No. 2 seed Orlando City SC in a best-of-three first-round series with Game 1 scheduled for Monday (6 p.m. CT) at Exploria Stadium. Game 2 is Nov. 7 in Nashville.

Nashville, which has never advanced beyond the conference semifinals. isn't simply content to make the playoffs anymore, but to take the next step there.

When did things change?

"Probably after the first year," coach Gary Smith said Friday. "You want to get that monkey off your back and get in the postseason, and we did that in year one. From then on, the group have been really looking at progression."

Smith has coached Nashville SC since 2018, when it played in the USL. Nashville's on-field nucleus has been around nearly as long. Hany Mukhtar, Walker Zimmerman, Dax McCarty, Anibal Godoy, Randall Leal, Daniel Lovitz, Alex Muyl and Joe Willis have been with the team since its first MLS season. Even players who haven't called Nashville home quite as long — Teal Bunbury, Fafa Picault, Sean Davis, Shaq Moore — can be considered veterans.

"The biggest difference in some of the guys that have walked that path is the relaxed feel about them," Smith said. "There's no stress in their play this week. There's sharpness, but not anxiety when you're watching them work. There's a collective feel of excitement, rather than pressure."

Zimmerman — who prefers the word "calm" rather than "relaxed" — thinks veteran makeup plays a primary role in that regard. Per Transfermarkt, Nashville SC has the oldest roster in MLS, with an average age of 29.0 years. In addition, Nashville fielded eight of the 17 oldest starting lineups in the league this season.

For all of Nashville's experience, Bunbury is the only player on the roster to have won an MLS Cup, doing so with Sporting Kansas City in 2013. Earlier this week, according to Zimmerman, Bunbury met with teammates to discuss what it takes to win a championship. Off the field, staying positive and sticking together. On the field, each player raising their game "one or two percent."

It's that last part that might particularly resonate. Nashville gave up 32 goals this season, tied for the fewest in MLS, and has developed a reputation as a well-organized stout defense that's difficult to break down. That formula worked well during the regular season, and in a playoff setting, Zimmerman thinks it might lead to even more success.

"When you get to the playoffs where the margins are so thin, I think that's an advantage," Zimmerman said. "Just our solidity and keeping things close. Whether it ends up working out for us or not, we should be in every single game that we play."

MORE: Why Nashville SC can — and can't — make a deep run in MLS Cup playoffs

Part of Zimmerman's confidence also stems from Nashville SC's successful Leagues Cup run this summer. Nashville won four elimination games in a row before losing to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on penalties in the championship game. After last week's regular-season finale and again Friday, Smith noted the similarities between the new MLS Cup Playoffs format and the Leagues Cup.

"This is about the enjoyment and the excitement of the playoffs and what can be achieved, not pressure," Smith said. "After a final this year, our first final, it's something the guys can look forward to and strive for again, rather than the weight of not progressing or not achieving."

While its road is extremely difficult as a seventh seed, Nashville is still in position to achieve something it’s never done before. And a run to a MLS championship would put Nashville in the most exclusive group of all.

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC prepared for fourth MLS Cup Playoffs in four seasons