Nashville Soccer Club unveiled Tuesday a series of rituals and activations that will take place during the club’s inaugural match in Major League Soccer against Atlanta United FC on Feb. 29, presented by Renasant Bank. Fans planning to attend will want to get in their seats early to see Judah and the Lion, Charles Esten and Lzzy Hale featured in a night when sports and entertainment come together in Music City.

In a partnership with Judah and the Lion, Nashville SC has teamed up with the Nashville based alternative rock band to create the official club anthem titled “Never Give Up On You.” The band’s 20-minute performance, which will include the anthem, will take place after both teams leave the field following warm-ups.

Following the anticipated entrance of both teams on the pitch, American singer and actor Charles “Chip” Esten will perform the National Anthem. The multitalented artist is no stranger to the Music City and has cemented his place in the industry with his songwriting and countless live performances. Esten, a soccer advocate himself, was a key supporter of the #MLS2Nashville campaign that brought MLS to Music City.

As Nashville SC players set up on the pitch to kick off their inaugural season in MLS, fans will want to pay attention to The Backline section where rock artist Lzzy Hale will be the first to perform the Gibson Guitar Riff. A GRAMMY-winning singer and songwriter with her band Halestorm, Lzzy is renowned as one of the best vocalists in rock and roll throughout her career and will now spearhead a new trend for Nashville SC fans. The Gibson Guitar Riff is a special ritual that will showcase different artists throughout the season as they increase the energy by riffing live on an NSC customized Gibson guitar right before kickoff.

In addition to the exciting performances in store for the home opener, Nashville SC will be unveiling its collaborative community project “One Nashville Under Gold” banner. The project is a collection of images representing Nashvillians from all walks of life, symbolizing the club’s motto; One Nashville Under Gold, as well as MLS’s “Soccer for All” initiative. The banner will be displayed at each home match and will highlight our fans, supporters and community partners across the region. Nashville SC’s honorary flag bearers for this match will be youth from the International Teen Outreach Program of Glencliff High School and the 101st Airborne Division, Screaming Eagles, of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

A special section of the stadium will be presented in the home opener as Nashville SC unveils Section 615, presented by DEX Imaging. Named after the area code of the Music City, this section is dedicated to people, groups and community organizations who are doing good work in and around Nashville. The first guest of the season will be Oasis Center, a nationally recognized organization designed to help young people in Middle Tennessee move into a happy, healthy, and productive adulthood. In addition, to Section 615, Nashville SC will also be introducing “Our Hero of the Match” presented by Hyundai, a matchday moment to celebrate those members making an impact in our community.

Be a part of history! Tickets to Nashville SC’s inaugural MLS match against Atlanta United FC, presented by Renasant Bank, are available through Season Ticket Memberships starting at just $425 ($25 per game) and through single game and group tickets. Be sure to secure your place in history with the best seats for Feb. 29 and throughout the inaugural season by visiting NashvilleSC.com/Tickets or calling 615-750-8800.

The Coffee County CHS Raider wrestling team opens up competition in the TSSAA State Wrestling Tournament on Thursday.  Four Raider grapplers will represent Coffee County Central High School in the 3 day state championship.  Gavin Prater and Cardin Stump will compete for the Red Raiders while Lady Raider wrestlers Alanna Coker and Mary Wolfrum also qualified for the state girls’ championship. 

Prater will wrestle at 145 pounds, while Stump qualified in the heavyweight division.  For the Lady Raider wrestlers, Coker will compete at 115 while Wolfram has qualified in the 125 weight class.

The state tournament will begin on Thursday at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin.  The boys weigh-in will take place at 1 PM on Thursday with wrestling getting underway at 3 PM for the first 2 rounds. Wrestling continues on Friday at 10 AM with the championships on Saturday.  The Lady Raider wrestlers will weigh-in at 8:30 AM on Friday and their first round matches will begin at 10 AM on Friday morning.  The girls’ championship will also be held on Saturday beginning at 10 AM.  Tickets for the event are $10 daily with a parking charge of $5 per car.

You can keep track of their performances in real time online at: http://www.tssaasports.com/wrestling

The Westwood soccer team’s Tuesday scrimmage at home against South Franklin was postponed due to wet field conditions at Dyer-Bouldin Field.  The match will be made up on Wednesday in Winchester beginning at 4:30 PM.  The match is set to be played behind the football field at the site of the former Franklin County High School off Dinah Shore Boulevard. 

The Rockets open the regular season on Thursday, February 27th when Westwood plays host to North Franklin.   That match will get underway at 5 PM and it is the opening broadcast in the Thunder Radio Spring Sports coverage calendar.  And, as always is the case with spring sports, when weather forces cancellations and postponements, Thunder Radio will keep you updated on that as well.  For more than complete prep sports coverage, remember, nobody does sports like Thunder Radio! 

Ryan Johansen scored Nashville’s lone goal on Tuesday night, as the Predators fell to the Carolina Hurricanes by a 4-1 final at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees Nashville’s three-game winning streak come to an end, as the season series between the two clubs finishes with one victory apiece.

The loss was disappointing for the Preds after a stellar weekend that saw them sweep a home-and-home set with the St. Louis Blues. Those results provided another boost of confidence into the locker room, and even though the group stated the importance of moving on from that high, Nashville was unable to muster much on the attack on Tuesday.

“Since I’ve been here, it’s the first time we did win three in a row, and then we came off a weekend where I think everyone feels good,” Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. “We had a day off yesterday, and I didn’t have a great day off because [as a coach], you’re worried about where’s the mindset of your team. A lot of times you can get lost. You can get lost in a big win, and you can get lost in success, and the second that happens you get complacent.

“It’s human nature, but that’s something that, we didn’t handle the situation as well as we need to. But… we have bounced back after some bad losses. [Tonight], we didn’t bounce back and play the game, be prepared to play the game, the way you need to after two big wins and three in a row. That’s an area we certainly have to address and we have to approve.”

Carolina took the game’s first lead less than four minutes in when Jordan Staal beat Juuse Saros in tight for the only goal of the opening period.

The Predators responded quickly in the second stanza, as Johansen directed a puck out of the air and into the cage just 48 seconds into the period. Carolina challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call stood in favor of the home team.

However, that was the only time the Preds beat Carolina netminder Petr Mrazek on the night. After Andrei Svechnikov and Nino Niederreiter put the Hurricanes up by two before the middle frame was out, Sebastian Aho got Carolina’s fourth and final marker early in the third to put the game away.

“Not a good game for us overall,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “I don’t think we had enough offense the whole game, and we couldn’t get anything going in the offensive zone. They had a lot more zone time than we did. We’ve got to be a lot more dangerous offensively.”

The Predators will now have a couple of days to regroup before another back-to-back set arrives this weekend involving the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets. As has been the case for the last number of weeks, every game at this point in the season carries vast importance, and each loss will make it tougher to attain a postseason spot.

With that in mind, Nashville has no choice but to learn from this outing, and then move on to the next opportunity for two points.

“We know how crucial every point is, so we can’t use [last weekend] as an excuse for not being ready tonight,” Johansen said. “It’s too bad we weren’t able to come out and get a win here again tonight to keep going in the right direction. We’ll take a day; we’ll look at everything and go from there.”

“At this point in the year, it doesn’t really matter what happened the day before, we’ve got to move on,” Preds forward Rocco Grimaldi said. “We’ve got Chicago on the road, and they’re right behind us in the standings. We need two points against them. Then, we’ve got Columbus coming into our building, and we have to make up for what we did tonight… We know what we’re getting into. It’s going to be two hard games starting on the road in Chicago.”

Notes:

Colin Blackwell and Matt Irwin were scratched for the Preds on Tuesday night, as Nashville stuck with the same lineup of skaters once more.

Another back-to-back set arrives on Friday for Nashville as they start in Chicago against the Blackhawks. The Predators will then return home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.