ORLANDO, Fla.  — Wilder Cartagena scored his second career goal in his first playoff appearance and Pedro Gallese notched his first postseason clean sheet as Orlando City opened its series against Nashville SC with a 1-0 victory on Monday night.

Orlando City (19-7-9), the second seed in the Eastern Conference, got the only goal it would need when Cartagena took a pass from César Araújo and scored in the 41st minute, giving Orlando City a 1-0 lead at halftime. Gallese finished with three saves in his fourth postseason start.

"I found myself in a lot of space and I decided to just hit it, with a lot of confidence," Cartagena said. "Thankfully I hit it in a spot that was really difficult for the goalkeeper. You know, I’ve been trying to do that the last couple of games, and this one finally came off and it was a great one.” 

Cartagena, who has made 24 starts and 25 appearances this season, scored his first and only regular-season goal in a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Aug. 20. Gallese allowed six goals in three playoff starts from 2020-22.

Joe Willis totaled four saves for Nashville (13-12-10).

"They placed a lot of players in their final third, and it was difficult for us to break it up, but it is a task for us to accomplish," Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said. "We just need to be more precise in that last part of the field, so we don’t need to suffer that much. Second half, I thought we controlled the game. We had a couple options and a few options that could have given us more peace to not finish the game that tight. We recognized Nashville was throwing bodies in front, and so we became that line of five in the last few minutes and just gave us energy. The boys that came on in the second half, as well, gave us a hand to control the game. Happy for this first playoff win, but we have to get ready for the next one. The series is there [to win], and we will get ready for the next game in Nashville.” 

Orlando City and No. 7 seed Nashville are squaring off for the third straight postseason. Nashville posted a 3-1 victory at home in a 2021 first-round match and Orlando City won on penalty shots after a 1-1 draw in last season's quarterfinal round.

Orlando City beat Nashville 1-0 on Oct. 4 and has won two straight after an eight-match winless run in the series (0-3-5). Orlando's only other win over Nashville was a 3-1 victory at home in the first meeting back in August of 2020.

Orlando City entered the match with an 8-1-2 record and a league-high 26 points since the Leagues Cup break. Nashville became the third club to make the playoffs in each of its first four seasons, but it collected the fewest points (11) since the break with a 2-3-5 mark. The Seattle Sounders made the postseason in each of their first 13 seasons, while the Chicago Fire did it in their first six campaigns.

Orlando City set club records for points with 68, wins with 18 and fewest losses with seven. The 55 goals scored matched a club record.

The second leg of the series will be played in Nashville on Nov. 7. If necessary, the two clubs return to Orlando for the finale on Nov. 12.