Nashville SC U23 vs. Peachtree City final score: NSC wins first PDL away match 2-1 to stay perfect in debut season

Peachtree City looked like a vastly improved side to the one Nashville SC whipped 6-1 in their PDL debut last month, but NSC got out to a two-goal lead in the first half and held on for dear life in the second half, down a man after the 71st minute, to preserve a 2-1 victory. The win keeps Nashville SC U23 (5-0-0) three points clear of Charlotte Eagles atop the South Atlantic Division.

MOBA controlled the play for the first ten minutes or so, with NSC getting its feet back under them as the first half wore on. Both teams had some dangerous scoring chances early, but the breakthrough came in the 22nd minute on a Nashville corner kick. Martim Galvao's service found center forward Blake Wilson's head, forcing an excellent save by Peachtree City keeper Will Meyer, but Nashville center back Patrick Nielsen was there to fire the loose ball into the back of the net.

Following the opening score, the play was physical and end-to-end, with both sides threatening the other's goal. Nashville goalkeeper William Pyle made some great decisions and excellent saves to keep MOBA off the scoreboard in the first half. Nashville doubled its lead against the run of play in the 39th minute when a MOBA handball inside the 18 led to a Martim Galvao penalty. The Portuguese midfielder calmly slotted the ball home for his fourth goal of the season, giving the Music City side some breathing room.

Coming out of halftime, Peachtree City dominated the play and pulled one back in the 69th minute when Khallil Stewart, the danger man for MOBA all night long, fired a shot at goal and it took a deflection off of Nashville defender Brad Ross, leaving Pyle with no chance of keeping it from bulging the back of the net.

Two minutes later, the situation got even more dire when midfielder Alex Stoiljkovic was shown his second yellow card. From there, Nashville were holding on for dear life, with MOBA narrowly missing several excellent chances to equalize. It took a man-of-the-match caliber performance from Pyle to keep the Boys In Gold in the lead.

Though the aggregate scoreline (8-2) heavily favors Nashville, it seems like we might have a budding rivalry on our hands here. If anything has been made clear from the first two meetings, its that these two groups of players don't like each other very much. If the quality of soccer continues to match the intense physicality, this could be a tremendously entertaining series.

The second leg of Nashville's brutal five-game road swing is Tuesday at Irmo High School against SC United. NSC topped the Bantams 2-0 last week in a closely fought match at Vanderbilt's football stadium, another game won by Nashville on the strength of superior set piece execution. Nashville have established some cushion in their race for a top two spot in the South Atlantic Division, but their lack of open-play scoring might catch up to them sooner than later.