How good was Nashville SC forward Warren Madrigal in his first MLS game?

Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar combined for three goals in Nashville's 4-1 win over the New England Revolution on Feb. 21 at Geodis Park, but during his postgame news conference, coach B.J. Callaghan fielded more than twice as many questions about the 21-year-old from Costa Rica.

The attention was deserved. Madrigal became just the second player in NSC history to score in his first league game, the first to record an assist and the seventh player in MLS history to total three goal contributions in his debut. He finished with one goal and two assists, and if he can sustain production even close to that level, it would go a long way toward fixing one of the club's biggest weaknesses from last season.

"He had a really effective game," Callaghan said. "He was pretty hard to keep tabs on, he was all over the place in a good way. You could see the impact that he was able to make."

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Madrigal found success by being in the right place at the right time. He headed the ball to Surridge off a corner kick in the fifth minute for his first assist, and was integral in the buildup to Surridge's second goal 11 minutes later. He managed to get a touch on a deflected ball in the 39th minute and redirect it to Mukhtar for his second assist, and found the net himself in the 49th minute by following up a rebound in the penalty box.

Callaghan likes Madrigal as a striker, but he also thinks he's versatile enough to play all over the front line, including at left wing, where he started against the Revolution.

"We thought it was an opportunity for somebody to have a starting position there, but then start to try and exploit the space, whether it was in the middle of the field, coming down or looking for a run in behind," Callaghan said. " . . . Warren has a pretty unique skill set that he can run behind, he can come underneath, which then only opens more space for other players, and vice versa."

Madrigal compiled a solid scoring record at previous club Saprissa in Costa Rica, where he had 19 goals in 100 matches from 2020 to 2025, as well as with Valencia B in the Spanish fourth division (eight goals in 18 games) and the Costa Rica national team (six goals in 25 appearances). Already, he has more goal contributions than Teal Bunbury, Nashville's previous backup striker, had in all of 2025.

Though Madrigal might not get many starting opportunities at striker due to the presence of Surridge, who was third in last season's Golden Boot race, Nashville has long been on the hunt for supplementary scoring. Surridge and Mukhtar combined for 40 of the club's 58 goals in MLS play last season, and no one else scored more than four.

Surridge, for one, likes the idea of having a little more assistance.

"I wasn't satisfied with what I've done last year, I want to do even better," he said. "So hopefully them two (Madrigal and Cristian Espinoza) can help the team and help me produce that . . . I think having Warren a bit wider, where he can beat a man, helps where I can be more central. Hopefully they can complement me."

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on X/Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Warren Madrigal makes Nashville SC history in MLS debut