Nashville Soccer Club hosted its first game of 2019 on a rainy Friday night at First Tennessee Park, and was challenged by a high caliber MLS club in New York City FC in a 2-0 loss. NYCFC struck twice in the first half, on a penalty kick after a handball and a 25-yard strike from highly-touted forward Alexandru Mitrita.

ANOTHER RAINY NIGHT
It is now a tradition for Nashville SC to play MLS teams in preseason friendlies in the rain. Just over a year after its inaugural game at First Tennessee Park in 2018 against Atlanta United in a monsoon, Nashville SC played in a steady rain on Friday night. Many fans braved the weather to see Nashville take on one of the top MLS sides.

DANGEROUS DPs
New York City FC designated players Maxi Moralez and Alexandru Mitrita proved their value as each scored a first half goal. First it was Moralez who stepped up to the spot and buried the penalty kick past Nashville keeper Matt Pickens in the 28’ minute while new signing Mitrita launched a rocket into the upper corner past an outstretched hand of Pickens to double the lead. From Romania, Mitrita is reported as one of the most expensive MLS signings in league history.

BUILDING MINUTES
In the club’s first three preseason games, most Nashville players stuck to 45 minutes of game play as they gained match fitness. On Friday night, head coach Gary Smith upped the minutes from the starters to 60 with the bulk of the subs coming on the 61’ minute.

MLS SIGNINGS MAKE HOME DEBUT
Both of Nashville SC’s first MLS signings, Cameron Lancaster and Daniel Ríos made their debuts in front of the home fans. Lancaster started and played 60 minutes while Ríos came on at halftime and played the final 45. The pair played together for 15 minutes marking the first time this preseason Lancaster and Ríos played together

UP NEXT
Nashville SC will be back in action in the Music City when it plays Lipscomb University on its campus on Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. The Bisons are coming off an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2018. Tickets are available at lipscombsports.com/tickets

As the spring sports season is just about set to get underway, a rash of cancellations on Friday and Saturday were announced on Thursday and Friday

The girls region basketball game vs Stewarts Creek set for Friday night at Coffee County high school has been postponed. More details later. The game will be made up at 2pm on Sunday.
Saturday’s Region 4AAA boys’ quarterfinal game, Riverdale at Coffee County, has been postponed until 6 PM on Sunday.

The Westwood baseball team was set to open their regular season in Fayetteville on Saturday against Riverside Christian.  That match up has been postponed and the make-up date is TBD.

– The Coffee County CHS soccer play day at the Raider Academy has been postponed until March 2nd.  A new schedule will be released next week.

– The Coffee County CHS softball’s teams scrimmage play-day in Shelbyville has been postponed.  A tentative make-up date is set for March 9th.

–  The Coffee County CHS baseball team’s scrimmage with with Warren County in McMinnville has been postponed.  A tentative make-up date is being arranged for Tuesday at Powers Field at 4:30 PM.

The Coffee County Fastpitch Association will hold their FINAL DAY of signups this Saturday at the Ada Wright Center.  The fastpitch softball league will hold signups from 9 AM to 2 PM.  Parents wishing to register their child need to bring the child’s birth certificate to signups.

The league is open to kids ages 4 to 14 in 4 separate age divisions.  Cost to participate is $40 per child with a sibling discount available.  If you need more information, contact Matt Asher at 931-588-9919 or Renee Asher at 931-581-3668.  You can also get more information by visiting the league’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeCountyFastPitchAssociation

If you are interested in sponsoring or coaching a team, contact a member of the CCFA board or Matt or Renee Asher.

Roman Josi

Roman Josi scored the game-winner for the second consecutive outing, and the Nashville Predators defeated the Los Angeles Kings by a 2-1 final on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena.

It’s Nashville’s second-straight win overall, and with the two points in the standings, the team is back in first place in the Central Division – one point ahead of the Winnipeg Jets.

Kyle Turris also scored on the evening – a power-play goal to give Nashville the all important first lead against a Los Angeles team that had lost five straight entering the night. The Preds were expecting a tight-checking affair, and that’s exactly what they got, with Pekka Rinne and his mates only allowing L.A. a little life 50 minutes into the contest before shutting them down once more.

“Getting the first goal was good,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We played two really strong periods in the first and second. The chances were where we wanted them to be. We had some good looks, and the game was just tight. Their goaltender played well. They’re a good defensive team, they have good structures, and we just stuck with it.”

“It’s a big win,” Rinne said. “I think all-in-all, it was a great effort. We had to lock it down in the third and I thought that we did. We didn’t give up a lot of chances. They ended up hitting the post right at the end there but other than that, we did a really good job.”

Turris had a new face on his line with Viktor Arvidsson jumping onto his wing, while Kevin Fiala moved up with Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen. Laviolette stated postgame that making the switch allowed him to get a look at some combos that hadn’t been tried yet, and in particular, Turris saw the benefits.

“He was one of our most noticeable players with his speed and the offense he brought to the game,” Laviolette said of Turris. “Viktor Arvidsson jumping down there did a good job. He had a good game. To me, that line was quick and pretty good. Kyle played a strong game for us.”

The Predators converted on their first power-play opportunity of the evening, and it was Turris who one-timed home his first goal since returning from injury on Feb. 7. The tally gave the Preds a 1-0 advantage through 20 minutes, and early in the second, the captain scored again.

Two nights after Josi potted two in Dallas, he struck at 46 seconds of the middle stanza when he roofed a shot past Jonathan Quick to give his club a two-goal lead.

It was Josi’s 12th multi-point outing of the season, and with a helper on Turris’s goal, he recorded his 50th point of the season to become the first defenseman in Predators franchise history to record at least 50 points in four separate seasons.

“It was a pretty complete game,” Josi said. “We talked about having some consistency and having a couple good games in a row. I thought we played two good games, and now we have to focus on the next one and do it again.”

Michael Amadio broke Rinne’s shutout midway through the third, but that was as close as the Kings came, with the Nashville netminder stopping 28 of 29 shots he faced on the evening.

The Predators started the week with a 5-3 win in Dallas on Tuesday night, and from the time that game ended until this one began, the key word was consistency. Nashville wanted nothing more than to follow that victory up with another solid outing, and they were ready to go from the start.

“We talked about the speed a lot, but you have to have that,” Rinne said. “Every team in the League nowadays play a fast game. We had that, and I thought we came out really well, played with that quickness and physical play. We talked about following up from the Dallas game. It’s nice to win two in a row, and hopefully we can start making some noise and put a streak together.”

The effort was good enough to vault them back atop their division, and while that placement could come to an end as early as Friday night, the view is still a desirable one, another taste of where they’d like to be when the regular season is all said and done.

“It’s such a good division,” Josi said. “You always want to move up on the leaderboard. Obviously, we’ve got some games ahead, but for now we’re in first and we’re going to play hard to stay there.”

Notes:

Prior to Thursday’s game, the Predators placed forward Craig Smith on Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury. The team also recalled forward Tyler Gaudet from Milwaukee of the AHL.

Yannick Weber, Frederick Gaudreau and Gaudet were scratched on Thursday.

Overall, the Preds have only lost once in regulation to the Kings in their last 17 meetings (10-1-6), with Nashville winning five straight from Nov. 2, 2013 to March 14, 2015.

At home, Nashville has earned a point in nine of its last 10 contests vs. Los Angeles (7-1-2).

Nashville’s three-game homestand continues on Saturday afternoon when the Colorado Avalanche come to town for a special 4:30 p.m. (CT) puck drop at Bridgestone Arena. The NHL Trade Deadline then hits on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. before the Preds host the Edmonton Oilers later that evening.