The famed American novelist Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.” That may very well be the case on Saturday night when Inter Miami face off against Nashville.
The underdogs from Music City evened their First Round, Best-of-3 MLS Cup playoffs series with big bad Inter Miami, thanks to a 2-1 win at home in Game 2 last weekend, which included 27 minutes off the bench from former Toronto FC winger Jacob Shaffelburg, a Surridge penalty goal and a late consolation goal from Lionel Messi.
One year ago, Inter Miami were on course for their first-ever berth in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. After enjoying the best regular season record in MLS history with a mammoth 74-point haul, all signs pointed to the Herons booking their ticket for the second round. The Herons kicked off their playoffs with a 2-1 win vs. Atlanta and opened the scoring in the second leg, only to concede twice (including a last-second winner). And despite breaking the deadlock within 17 minutes, Miami ended up losing 3-2 in Game 3 to miss out on a spot in the elite eight.
Having suffered one of the biggest upsets in league history in Tata Martino’s final game in charge, it seems that Miami have eased up on the gas this season in order to conserve energy for the postseason and deliver in all of their competitions, rather than just one. After losing to Vancouver in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals, Miami made history by beating Porto, drawing to Al Ahly and Palmeiras, and making it to the FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16, where they lost to PSG.
The Herons also made it all the way to the Leagues Cup Final and looked set to claim their championship in three years, only to end up losing 3-0 at Seattle Sounders, followed by a 3-0 defeat at Charlotte. They bounced back with three straight wins before drawing at Toronto FC, followed by a 5-3 loss to Chicago Fire. As a result, Miami relinquished their chances of winning a second-straight Supporters’ Shield, but they responded by beating New England and Atlanta before facing off against Nashville SC, taking the lead via Lionel Messi only to concede shortly after via Sam Surridge, both of whom were fighting it out for the MLS Golden Boot award.
Nashville would take the lead before halftime as Surridge raced forward and teed up Hany Mukhtar, whose shot careened off the far post and sat up perfectly for Jacob Shaffelburg to slot home into an empty net. Nevertheless, Miami would respond with four second-half goals (including two from Messi) to pull off a 5-2 win in Tennessee and a third-place finish, setting up a rematch with Nashville.
Having reached the Conference semi-finals in their first two MLS seasons followed by first-round exits in 2022 and 2023, Nashville would suffer a dismal 2024 campaign, prompting them to hire B.J. Callaghan as their new manager. It hasn’t taken Callaghan to steady the ship and make Nashville a force to be reckoned with in MLS again, and one player who has proven vital is Shaffelburg.
Jesse Marsch did not call the winger into his November squad for Canada’s friendlies against Ecuador and Venezuela, admitting that he wanted Shaffelburg to remain with his club as he deals with a minor sports hernia.
Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Shaffelburg would head south of the border in his teenage years and ply his trade in Nashville, Kansas City, and Massachusetts, where he was named 2017–18 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Soccer Player of the Year, in addition to winning the U.S. Club Soccer U-16 National Championship in 2016 with Manhattan SC. These performances attracted the attention of Toronto FC, who signed him to their academy and eventually handed him a professional contract, with Shaffelburg making his senior debut in February 2019.
Shaffelburg gradually emerged as a key figure in the team, mainly operating as a left winger but also as a setting up the fastest goal in TFC history only 29 seconds into the game. Shaffelburg would quickly find himself in the starting lineup shortly after signing, earning rave reviews for his pace from the coaching staff. He joined Nashville SC on loan for the remainder of the 2022 season, with an option for a permanent transfer in 2023.
Life in Nashville hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the Canadian winger. But with the added motivation of revenge for two Copa America losses to Messi’s Argentina, Shaffelburg will look to do all he can to hand big money Inter Miami another First Round upset.
