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USL Nashville SC

Nashville SC Rallies Around Injured Captain Michael Reed to Beat Hartford Athletic

August 8, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE - Defender Ken Tribbett rose up for a header at the back post in the 51' minute that found the back of the net off of a corner kick to give Nashville Soccer Club a 1-0 lead.

While Tribbett was undoubtedly happy to contribute to what would become a dominant 4-0 win for Nashville, he couldn't help but feel bad about the way he entered the match. He was subbed on in the opening minutes of the match after a gruesome leg injury to captain Michael Reed. Tribbett's unexpected 81-minute performance was a stellar one, and it was all done in the name of his fallen captain.

"It's so unfortunate the way I went into the game today," Tribbett said. "Prayers go out to Michael Reed our captain. We love him to death. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery. My performance tonight was for him, so I was happy to get on the score sheet for him and get that clean sheet for him."

Reed's injury that forced him to leave the pitch on a stretcher brought the match to a screeching halt. Even with a red card issued to Hartford's Mads Jørgensen for the tackle that injured Reed, Nashville couldn't find the back of the net in the first half. Head Coach Gary Smith has firsthand experience of horrific injuries during match play, and he was proud of the way his team responded, particularly after a much-needed halftime break.

"Strangely enough, I've been in that situation before myself personally," Smith said. "I've been that player on the field who is injured badly. Honestly, I've not been involved where I've seen an injury that bad. I think honestly, without knowing exactly what's happened, we're waiting for an assessment on Michael and the full scope of the injury, but I think just the visual of somebody's foot being in an abnormal position can be very emotionally disturbing for the players that are out there. And that was the difficulty when they came into a tight huddle before we restarted. Some of the guys had obviously seen and had been close to the action and what happened. You have to suspect that all of those guys were thinking that we've got to continue in this game now and that type of injury could happen to me. The reality is that it does happen. Fortunately, it just doesn't happen very often. I did think that the mentality of the group was far better in the second half, and maybe the break was needed just to put a little moment in time between what had happened and where we were going to move on to."

At the start of the second half, Smith also adjusted his group's shape and tactics to fit the personnel on the pitch. It paid dividends in the form of four goals in the first 25 minutes of the half from four different goal scorers. Tribbett was shifted into a more central defensive role in the second half after spending much of the first half in the midfield as a replacement for Reed. Smith was happy to see Tribbett on the pitch and thriving no matter what role he was playing.

"Ken is an intelligent and very adaptable soccer player, there's no doubt about it," Smith said. "I think he's himself been disappointed and frustrated, but that's born mostly out of being injured and out of the team for a prolonged period of time. He's seen two talented defenders come in and undoubtedly felt the effects of that. I think he's slotted into that midfield brilliantly. He's a far more efficient soccer player than I think most give him credit for. I think on top of all of those things, he's just a terrific guy. He's got a great attitude, he's a hard-working player, and whatever opportunity is thrown at Ken, I think he's that type of guy that would take it. We have a small group anyway, and a lot of those guys are starting to see the field again and with three games in a week, that's always going to be a stretch for any group."

Now, Nashville SC faces a quick turnaround as it faces Bethlehem Steel FC on Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. With the club riding a four-match win and clean sheet streak, Tribbett says his team still doesn't have time to get comfortable or complacent.

"I don't think we have those players," Tribbett said. "I think we have the personality where we want to go and win every single game four-nil. We have four shutouts in a row. We want to make it five on the weekend. We want to score four goals, five goals, six goals every time we come out. It's not a fact of getting complacent. We want to keep going. We want to push the first spot on the table and go win a championship come playoffs."

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