Nashville SC forward Sam Surridge, left, celebrates his goal with midfielder Alex Muyl (19) during the first half of an MLS soccer match against Toronto FC, Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Sam Surridge scores his 18th goal and Joe Willis earns 9th clean sheet as Nashville beats Toronto

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sam Surridge scored his 18th goal of the season, Joe Willis earned his ninth clean sheet and Nashville beat Toronto FC 1-0 on Saturday night.

Nashville (14-5-5), which won its ninth home game this season, set a franchise record for wins during the regular season, topping 13 set in 2022 and ’23.

Nashville is unbeaten in its last six matches against Toronto (5-12-6), outscoring the Canadian side 8-3. Nashville is also undefeated (3-0-0) against Toronto when Surridge scores.

Surridge scored in the 28th minute. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson made a diving save of Hany Mukhtar’s left-footed shot outside of the box but it spilled to Surridge for an easy finish.

Surridge became the 10th player in MLS history to score at least 18 goals in his team’s first 24 games of a season and the first to do so since Carlos Vela and Josef Martínez in 2019.

The shutout victory marked Willis’ 76th career MLS regular season clean sheet and his 101st career MLS regular season win.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Nashville SC forward Sam Surridge (9) kicks the ball past Toronto FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson, left, during the first half of an MLS soccer match Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Toronto FC defender Kevin Long, left, midfielder Kobe Franklin (19) and forward Theo Corbeanu, right, react after the team’s loss against Nashville SC after an MLS soccer match Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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