STLFC played without midfield leader Lewis Hilton, who was injured and sat out the second half of Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Fury. Starters Kyle Greig and Kadeem Dacres entered just after halftime on Saturday.

“It would’ve been impossible to ask the same players to go and play all three games,” Pulis said. “It was always in our mind to rotate and try to keep players somewhat fresh. We got Kyle and Kadeem on and they gave us some boost. But every one of the players can be proud of the work they put in over the last seven days.

“It’s fantastic, but it’s also important now that we keep it going.”

STLFC started strong. Two minutes in, Caleb Calvert laid off a pass for teammate Masta Kacher, who fired the ball wide to the short side.

Eventually, the visitors settled in and started to knock the ball around the field. But STLFC managed to keep Nashville’s scoring chances to a minimum.

Cicerone made a strong run out the midfield in the 36th minute, drawing a foul at the edge of the Nashville penalty area. On the resulting free kick, Kacher hit a blast into the wall of defenders and on the follow, Collin Fernandez’s shot also was blocked at the Nashville defense.