Monthlong run punctuated by titanic U.S. Open triumph, important league results
The 2026 version of One Knoxville SC has a long way to go before it rivals the success of last year’s squad, but it’s already proved skeptics wary of the club’s ability to reload in the offseason wrong, and it now has replicated a feat only two previous USL League One sides have been able to accomplish: defeat a Major League Soccer franchise.
Squeaking by League Two’s Asheville City SC in penalty kicks in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup earned One Knox entry into the round of 32 and a trip to the nation’s capital, where it took on MLS royalty in D.C. United on the evening of Wednesday, April 15. With a modest yet enthusiastic and very vocal contingent of Scruffs raising an almighty ruckus in the southeast corner of Audi Field (and a healthy crowd also rooting the team on from a watch party at Kern’s Food Hall), the underdog eked out another shootout victory after being tied 3-3 with the host after 120 minutes.
Rolling out a “Believe in Knoxville” line of merchandise just prior to the matchup could have come across as audacious for a lower-level club meeting a top-tier foe for the first time, but – channeling head coach Ian Fuller’s challenge to his players to seize the day – One Knox honestly was the better team on the balance of play over the course of the game.
Shaking off a rough first quarter of an hour in which it looked overwhelmed by the speed and quality of its opponent, the visiting side gradually found its footing, created chances and even appeared to take the lead just before the end of the opening half. From a whipped corner kick by Real Gill midway through injury time, Finn McRobb towered over everyone in the United penalty area to power a header off the underside of the crossbar that seemingly crossed the goal line. But without the benefit of either goal line technology for confirmation or VAR to give it a gander, the match remained scoreless heading into the break.
Knoxville could have had a pair of legitimate penalty shouts on either side of halftime, as well, but D.C. made the breakthrough in the 61st minute when Matti Peltola controlled the ball in the center of midfield, took a couple of uncontested forward touches and ripped a shot to the right of goalkeeper Jonathan Burke that rippled the side netting. Gill didn’t mind the gap quickly enough to prevent the effort and – though probably unrelated to the mistake – was replaced soon thereafter by Eli Conway.
The away side pressed hard after going down a goal and equalized through Babacar Diene in the 75th minute. Good buildup in the midfield resulted in the striker alertly holding his run to stay onside until Braudilio Rodrigues’ low drive was parried into his path. Holding a defender at bay, he slotted a left-footed finish beyond an outstretched Alex Bono and into the net.
Encouraged by the tying tally, One Knox continued to force the action and surged ahead just three minutes later. On the pitch for mere seconds after relieving Abel Caputo in the 77th, Denis Krioutchenkov pounced on a bouncing cross into the area by Jaheim Brown to make it 2-1. Mikkel Gøling had been keenly aware of the right back’s presence on the wing; Conway allowed the entry ball to run behind him; and the standout rookie wrapped his foot around it to leave Bono frozen in his tracks as the keeper watched it careen inside his near post.
With the trio of substitutions it made at the half failing to shore up the proceedings, the home side was reeling until another new combatant snaked through the Knoxville defense to give United a lifeline in the 83rd minute. Silvan Hefti shrugged off an attempted tackle in the box and shifted a ball to the edge of the goal box that was nicely converted with a side volley by Nikola Markovic to knot the score at two goals apiece. Neither team found a winner in regulation, so an additional 30 minutes were affixed to the knockout.
Disaster struck for One Knox seven minutes into the half hour when Burke misread a long clearance by Bono and allowed the ball to bounce over his head where João Peglow was at the ready to nod it over the line for a 3-2 D.C. lead. At that point, it seemed like the supporters assembled at Kern’s felt content with the team giving its all while pushing an MLS side to the limit and were resigned to a loss – particularly when a finish on the counterattack appeared to give United a two-goal advantage in the waning moments of the first frame.
That score was chalked off for offside, however, and the Scruffy Boys were able to regroup and live up to their name in the second period of extra time. Pressing nonstop for another equalizer, they once again found one in the 113th minute – and it was the most aesthetically pleasing goal of the bunch. Cutting inside from the right touchline, Will Perkins spotted Krioutchenkov’s sly run behind the D.C. backline and slipped a precise through ball past a thicket of defenders (five of them, and with his weaker foot, no less) that the attacker met in stride and nonchalantly chipped over the onrushing keeper and into the open goal.
As cool, calm and collected as the finish was, the throng at Kern’s was just the opposite when the ball nestled into the back of the net. Energized by the team’s gritty determination in fearlessly going toe-to-toe with the big boys and then actually being able to compete with them, fully grown adults jumped for joy, and the buzz around the outdoor courtyard persisted throughout the penalties. (I can only imagine what it was like to bear witness to the spectacle from within the soccer-specific confines of the stadium in Buzzard Point.)
After Burke chose the correct direction in which to dive to deny Gabriel Pirani from 12 yards out, the southside gathering place unleashed a loud roar. And when Kyle Linhares stutter-stepped to send Bono the wrong way to seal the deal for Knoxville, it erupted in voluminous cheers. The moment between the player closing his eyes, pointing to the heavens and sinking to his knees and his delirious teammates mobbing him was brief, but it offered ample opportunity for shirts to be stripped from torsos and twirled above heads while perfect strangers embraced and high-fived.
It was a momentous victory, achieved in front of a national audience on streaming platform Paramount+, that provided massive exposure to both the club and the city it calls home. The game was the darling of myriad social media accounts, and multiple publications across the country highlighted it. Distinguished sports writer Steven Goff, who covered 14 combined men’s and women’s World Cups for The Washington Post, identified it as a pristine example of the thriving soul of American soccer while simultaneously lamenting the upcoming FIFA tournament’s distinct lack thereof.
It was a financial boon for One Knox, as well, as the club was awarded a $50,000 stipend for being the competition’s last remaining team hailing from the third tier or below of the domestic soccer pyramid. Of those squads that advanced to the round of 16, 13 represented MLS. Along with League One Knoxville were two USL Championship clubs, Louisville City FC and Colorado Switchbacks FC.
Had One Knox come out flat in its next game, a league fixture at home versus Charlotte Independence on Saturday, April 18, it would have been understandable given the midweek exertions and presumptive celebrations. (If The District slept alone that night, I have to assume player curfews were extended for at least a bit later than usual on Wednesday.) And while it didn’t overly excite throughout much of the match, the team did put in a solid, workmanlike performance against a side that so far this season is a noticeable improvement upon last year’s model.
Knoxville jumped out to an early lead in the 13th minute via a scrappy goal initially attributed to Stavros Zarokostas and then Conway before later being ruled as an own goal by Reudd Manin. Gill lofted a ball into the penalty area to Conway, who chested it twice for control before chopping an effort that ricocheted off the near post and was eventually bundled over the line by the Charlotte defender. It wasn’t pretty, but it counted all the same.
Both teams exchanged chances over the next several minutes before Krioutchenkov was clumsily dragged down from behind in the Charlotte area in the 28th. He stepped up to take the spot kick himself but was denied by a fine save from Matt Levy. The striker’s aim was true, with only a fabulous sprawling stop from the netminder preventing his side from going down by two scores.
A quick counter against the run of play by the Independence leveled things on 34 minutes. A defensive header forward found Jon Bakero, who lifted the ball over the top to Souaibou Marou, who fought off Dani Fernández and was unerring with his finish. More wasted opportunities were traded until the first 45 ended, with the trend picking up again at the start of the second.
But neither Johan Garibay for One Knox nor Levy for CLT showed any signs of weakness between the pipes until the former needed to work in tandem with McRobb in the 70th minute to foil what looked to be a surefire goal for Marou. Danger averted, the hosts reasserted themselves and looked to capitalize on the homefield advantage. Although it took until the 88th minute for it to happen, they did just that through Linhares, who had a whale of a week coming off the bench late in a substitute role.
A heavy touch by a Charlotte player turned over possession in the Knoxville half, and the ball made its way to Brown on the right. The fullback curled a ball to Linhares, who was positioned in the center of the pitch at the edge of the attacking third. Slicing in front of his marker, he rose to head it forward to Diene and continued his run. Diene deftly trapped it and flipped it over the backline in the hope that the winger could catch up to it. Levy had come off his line for what looked like a 50/50 ball, but Linhares carried too much pace, and the goalie was obliged to go spread eagle.
Getting the slightest of touches on the ball to round the keeper, Linhares buried it into the open net before the recovering defender could make a play. Just three days after giving the home team the most famous win in its short history, the wingman again was swarmed by his colleagues. The dramatic finish secured a 2-1 victory and three important points, and it gave One Knox a confidence boost before it went back on the road for its first Prinx Tires USL Cup fixture of the 2026 campaign.
That tilt, on Saturday, April 25, featured a rematch of the first-ever game at Covenant Health Park. And just like in that 2025 tussle, One Knox emerged with a shootout success over FC Tulsa to earn two points. Facing the Championship runner-up from last year was a stiff test for the League One double winners, but at least the environs were familiar, as the multipurpose ONEOK Field is equipped for baseball like the Cove and also boasts a retractable pitcher’s mound.
Both offenses came out firing in the soggy elements, with Garibay and Tulsa’s Alex Tambakis needing to be sharp early and often. Knoxville drew first blood, however, with an excellent move that began with neat interplay along the left touchline. Fullback Chris Tiao worked a lovely one-two with Rodrigues and sprinted away with the ball down the channel. Feeding Rodrigues out on the flank, the players crisscrossed before the winger centered to Teddy Baker in the arc. The midfielder bent a powerful shot around the defense that eluded Tambakis at his far post and lodged in the netting.
Garibay came up with another huge stop on a screamer from almost point-blank range in the 59th minute but was powerless to do anything about Rémi Cabral’s half-volleyed equalizer from even closer in the 73rd. A second yellow on Lamar Batista five minutes later gave One Knox a man advantage down the stretch, but it was unable to conceive a winner in regulation; Gill came closest with a swirling drive in the 84th minute that Tambakis smothered.
Unlike the U.S. Open Cup, tied games in this interleague tournament go straight to PKs. After guessing the correct direction but hedging marginally and missing the first shot, Garibay stymied three of the next four Tulsa takers. Meanwhile, Diene had the first Knoxville pen saved off the post, but Conway, Fernández and Baker converted their opportunities. John Murphy Jr. had the chance to win it outright yet had his spot kick stopped, but Garibay emphatically stoned Jeorgio Kocevski to end it.
The two points for a shootout win left One Knox tied for second in the group with San Antonio FC, which advanced over fellow Championship side Birmingham Legion FC in penalties, as well. They are looking up at first-year League One club Corpus Christi FC, which managed to defeat Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 1-0. Knoxville’s next match in the competition is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, at home versus San Antonio. A fan zone outside CHP featuring games and giveaways will precede the action at 4:30.
One Knox returned to U.S. Open play the following midweek when it traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for a meeting with the Crew on Wednesday, April 29. Sadly, the cup magic evaporated somewhere along the way up I-75, as the away team was bounced 4-1 by the MLS side. There were positives on display, though: the horde of Scruffs present at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field who could be heard in glorious, full-throated voice for the majority of the telecast; Rodrigues’ savvy header to even the score immediately following the Crew’s opener; and stabilization in the second half that renewed a glimmer of hope that something could be salvaged.
But Knoxville all too often was thoroughly outclassed by a superior side that punished the uncharacteristic errors and turnovers it made with impunity. Questionable haircut aside, Hugo Picard was brilliant for Columbus, terrorizing the right side of the One Knox backline en route to notching an early first-half brace. An insurance goal in the 72nd minute sealed the Tennessee team’s fate, and the Crew added another five minutes later for good measure. For the run to have come to such an unceremonious end was disappointing but not unexpected, and the squad was able to refocus its attention on the league.
Underneath menacing skies three days later on Florida’s Paradise Coast, One Knox rebounded in resounding fashion by thumping FC Naples 3-0 to move two points clear at the top of the League One standings. Although decisive on paper and despite early pressure that included a trio of missed chances, the victory was less a romp and more of a smash and grab against the team with which it had been tied atop the table.
Naples eased back into the game by exploiting space in wide areas and sending its fullbacks on overlapping runs forward, but that tactic backfired when Knoxville quickly regained possession in the 21st minute and Baker’s searching ball from the back arced invitingly into the path of Krioutchenkov, who continued his terrific run of form with a finish past netminder Edward Delgado, who narrowed the angle by leaving his line and got a piece of the ball but not enough to keep it out.
Andrés Ferrín took off on a clever run down the left channel in the 34th minute that put him in one-on-one versus Garibay, but his body language telegraphed his intention of going far post, and the keeper stuffed his attempt. Play was often relegated to the middle third as the first-half action wound to a close, with One Knox clinging to a one-goal lead at the break.
It didn’t take long for the away side to double its advantage in the second 45. Garibay’s sharp punt from his own 18 was misplayed at the back, and the ball fell to Diene. Shielding the ball as he went to ground, the striker clipped it beyond the lean of the last defender and teeing up Krioutchenkov for another opportunity against Delgado. Shaping like he was aiming to Lalo’s right, he pulled a shot near post with his left boot that found paydirt.
Knoxville reverted into a compact defensive shell for much of the rest of the match, allowing Naples to retain possession but stifling creative outlets and clearing any crosses that made their way into dangerous areas. As the home side struggled to break through and sent more and more numbers forward as a result, it was susceptible to the counter and finally got caught on another one in the 87th minute.
Gøling found an overlapping Brown on the right, and the outside back rocketed a difficult low ball into the box that Delgado couldn’t handle, and it bobbled up to Diene, who headed it home for his team’s third goal on the night. Naples missed a gimme of a header halfway through four minutes of time added on, and One Knox coasted to the shutout victory.
After playing seven of its last eight games on the road, Knoxville was due for a breather. With South Georgia Tormenta FC shuttering its professional operation a couple of weeks before the start of the season, the match originally scheduled to transpire on Saturday, May 9, in Statesboro became an open date for the squad. The club next returns to action on Wednesday, May 13, in a highly anticipated matchup against one of League One’s elite franchises, Union Omaha, at 7 p.m. at Covenant Health Park. The following Saturday will see San Antonio roll into town for the final USL Cup fixture against Championship competition in the group stage.
