Club in prime position to hoist hardware as regular-season champs
Having clinched a place in the USL League One postseason two weeks prior, One Knoxville SC entered its Oct. 10 match against Portland Hearts of Pine knowing that a win over the fledgling franchise would guarantee that Covenant Health Park would host a quarterfinal the first weekend of November. Although it had hit a bit of a snag in recent weeks by losing consecutive games to the red-hot Union Omaha and a rejuvenated Forward Madison FC, the club from the Atlantic coast of Maine previously had been trending upward, solidly occupied a playoff spot and thus still presented a robust challenge to the home side.
For its part, One Knox had deposed Chattanooga Red Wolves SC from the top of the league table and assumed that mantle after dispatching its in-state rival 2-0 on Oct. 1 … but then was promptly knocked off its perch following a road loss to the Richmond Kickers three days later. Knoxville was the better team throughout the tilt, however, so the narrow defeat represented only a minor hiccup in what overall has been an exceptional run of form since the conclusion of the Jägermeister Cup group stage in late July. Just three more points, and it would lock up at least fourth place in an eight-team playoff field.
A cloudless sky, crisp temperatures and a moderate breeze greeted the hardy, boisterous crowd that arrived downtown for this pivotal fixture that kicked off at 6:30 Friday evening. Even though several players were missing through injury, illness or suspension, Portland went with an outdated yet offensive-minded 4-4-2 formation that sacrificed defensive stability in the pivot for width in attack and the flexibility to push numbers forward. Meanwhile, Knoxville head coach Ian Fuller opted for a strategic mix of youth and experience in his favored 4-2-3-1 setup, with both the starting lineup and bench featuring big names.
The Hearts of Pine looked to establish early dominance by stretching play to the touchlines and sending runners into the penalty area to latch onto crosses. They won a corner within seconds and should have held a lead before two minutes had elapsed. Right back Shandon Wright delivered a precise ball from the edge of the box to the back post that all Masashi Wada had to do was direct on frame, but the striker mistimed his header and skyed it high and wide of goal. Escaping with hearts in throat, the One Knox players soon settled themselves, absorbed the pressure exerted by Portland’s high block and began to find passing lanes into the opposition end.
The next passage of play was approached with more patience and calculation by both sides. Now enjoying the bulk of possession, the home team was content to spread the ball across its backline in order to pick seams through which it could hit. In the 19th minute, Sivert Haugli gathered a loose ball, pushed it down the left flank with his long gait and played a tidy one-two with left back Stuart Ritchie. The center back attempted to play another give-and-go with Nico Rosamilia, who had drifted in from the wing, but the ball instead went in the direction of Babacar Diene.
Portland’s Miguel Lopez Jr. stepped in to challenge from behind and popped it up onto the arm of Sean Vinberg. While Vinberg was inside of his own area and the limb was in an unnatural position, referee Corbyn May ruled that the teammates were in too close proximity for a handball to have occurred. Penalties have been awarded for less, but One Knox remained undeterred and maintained the momentum it had built. Just seconds later, only a fingertip deflection by goalkeeper Hunter Morse prevented a dangerous curling cross by Gio Calixtro from finding Diene alone at the back post.
A smart header by Haugli back to keeper Sean Lewis in the 27th minute precipitated a move that led to Knoxville’s best chance thus far. Finding room along the touchline, Ritchie collected a long pass from Haugli and took a couple of exploratory touches before bending a delightful ball onto the head of Kempes Tekiela. The No. 10 seemed to underestimate the pace on the delivery, however, and screwed a weak header almost straight downward that was cleared, and Rosamilia’s turnaround shot was blocked over the endline. The resulting corner by Callum Johnson was looped into the area and headed by Jordan Skelton back toward the 18, where Ritchie caught every panel of the ball with a vicious volley. Morse stayed rooted to his spot and was thankful to see the effort fizz just wide of the near post.
By this point, Portland was facing a constant barrage from the home side, which was launching one treacherous attack after another. Fullback Jaheim Brown made a run down the right channel in the 35th minute that drew a defender from the center of the pitch and opened up space for Tekiela. Receiving a pass from Calixtro, he looked up, dribbled left and swung mightily through a shot that again petrified Morse but rebounded away from the base of the post to the keeper’s right. The stress on the Hearts of Pine was increasing exponentially, and they were about to wilt under the strain.
Lumbering on a solo run through the core of the Portland defense a minute later, Diene was felled from behind just beyond the top of the arc. Both the Senegalese striker and Tekiela stood over the ball, which was situated in an ideal spot for a direct shot on goal – but it was always going to be the German lefty who would be the one to take the free kick. From a concise run-up, Tekiela generated incredible power and dip on a strike that flew up and over the wall and planed over the outstretched netminder and into the upper 90. It was a stunning effort that looked effortless but which required maximum skill and careful placement.
Sensing that the game had gotten away from them, the Hearts of Pine rallied following the restart and soon fashioned a golden opportunity of their own. A cross from the left was too deep for the striker in the box in the 41st minute, but Wright settled the ball at his feet, cut it to his left and unleashed a curling shot that maybe sighted Lewis at first. Once he determined its flight, however, the keeper sprang to punch it convincingly over his crossbar.
Then, after Knoxville turned over possession in its own defensive third, a sharp cutback found Walter Varela 12 yards out. Faking a shot with his right to shake Abel Caputo, the midfielder dragged a low left-footed shot through a mass of bodies but just wide of the right stick. The home side had been warned but avoided being punished by the late flurry, and the teams went into halftime with the score 1-0 courtesy of Tekiela’s 38th-minute tally.
Both Portland and Knoxville were cautious to start the second half, exchanging a half-chance apiece in the first 10 minutes of the period. After the ball pinged around the box following a long Johnson free kick in the 49th minute, Diene improvised an effort over his shoulder that nestled into Morse’s arms. Seven minutes later, Wada took a quick pass from a corner and smashed a shot from close range that might have troubled Lewis had Skelton not sidled over to obstruct the far post and selflessly take one off his face to save his squad. The captain’s bell was rung, but he emerged no worse for the wear and was able to soldier on.
One Knox then conjured a second goal out of thin air in the 59th minute. Allowing the Portland backline to pass amongst itself for a brief spell, the forward line timed an all-out press to perfection, forcing a turnover that Stavros Zarokostas, on for Calixtro after the break, pounced upon to double the lead. Vinberg, rather than booting the ball upfield to relieve the danger, unwisely elected to try to keep possession and was stripped by a harrying Rosamilia, who centered to Diene. The striker held it up for a moment to attract dual defenders before unselfishly playing a trailing Zarokostas in on the right.
Having failed to convert similar opportunities on multiple occasions this season, the veteran winger nevertheless capitalized on this chance with aplomb, coolly slotting the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs. Although Zarokostas’ five assists place him among the league leaders for distributions, the nutmeg finish marked only his second goal of the campaign. It proved to be a hugely important one, though, as the two-goal lead evaporated barely two minutes later when Jacob Keegan clawed one back for Portland to halve the deficit.
It was a scruffy finish – one of the ugliest goals you’re ever likely to see, actually – befitting of a former One Knox player, the culmination of a scrappy goalmouth scrum during which at least three Knoxville players hit the deck en route to the ball being bundled over the goal line from a short distance. There’s really not much else to say about it other than it happened. Regardless, it provided Portland with a lifeline at a time when it badly needed one and quieted a fanbase that had been loudly cheering for what not long ago had seemed like an insurance goal.
Although the Hearts of Pine continued to cede possession, could not muster much in the way of a threat – a well-timed run almost cost the hosts with around 20 minutes to go, though – and generally appeared to resign themselves to defeat, the current crop of Scruffy Boys were made to suffer under its slim advantage until the 87th minute, when Diene padded the lead with a well-taken left-footed volley after some fine individual work from second-half sub Angelo Kelly, who had replaced Johnson in the 79th.
Noticing that Mark Doyle, on in the 78th minute for Rosamilia, had wandered to the left touchline to create a vacancy in the corresponding channel, Kelly bolted into the space and was spotted by Ritchie, who floated a pass into his path. Shielding the bouncing ball away from his defender, once past him he thumped it with his left boot into the penalty area. Rather than snatching at it, Diene exploited the velocity on the cross and simply redirected it to the right of Morse, just inside of the front stick and into the netting. The duo, all smiles, dances and hugs, wheeled away before being swarmed by the rest of the squad. From there, the result was never in doubt.
Once the final whistle sounded, the ebullient team celebrated regaining first place in the north end of CHP while a graphic display notifying everyone in attendance that the stadium will be hosting a first-round playoff game enveloped the gigantic Tennessee-shaped scoreboard at the south terminus. With the vital victory, Knoxville is guaranteed to experience at least three more weeks of professional soccer this year – with the distinct possibility of even more befalling the Scruffy City.
With two of 32 matchdays remaining in the regular season, One Knox controls its own destiny and can win the Players’ Shield – the trophy bestowed upon the team that tops the league table before the playoffs – via a variety of circumstances. The most direct route to achieve this feat is to win out; no club can catch it if it were to do so. If Chattanooga were to drop points Friday night and Spokane Velocity were to lose on Saturday, Knoxville could claim the title as early as Sunday with a home win over Texoma. The other scenarios are convoluted and are further complicated by Spokane having a game in hand, but the main takeaway should be that, even in the worst case, One Knox will be seeded no lower than third in the playoff bracket.
The added benefit to winning the Players’ Shield is that Knoxville, as the top seed, would be the home team for each subsequent match – including the final – should it be able to advance. Given the fact that the club is undefeated at home in 2025, that prospect should be mouthwatering for any local supporter. Real ones will be anxiously tuning into ESPN+ the two nights before One Knox takes to the pitch to monitor how the teams around it in the standings fare, but everyone ought to be present and in good voice by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around. (The earlier-than-usual kickoff is at 3.)
With the proper luck, we’ll all be applauding a historic accomplishment that evening. And if not, there’s always next week (7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, to be exact). Once the regular season concludes and the playoff field is set, details regarding the date and time of the quarterfinal matchup will be released. Don’t miss out on rooting for the team as it seeks to capture a championship in the Old City.
