Club hosts Spokane at Covenant Health Park on Sunday, Nov. 16
Thirty-one.
That is the number of consecutive passes One Knoxville SC strung together in the one minute, 40 second span of continuous possession that produced the solitary, deciding goal in the club’s 1-0 victory over FC Naples at Covenant Health Park in a USL League One playoff semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 8.
The scoreboard read 63:25 when Stuart Ritchie gathered a loose ball freed by captain Jordan Skelton’s stiff challenge on fellow All-League First Team selection Karsen Henderlong. By the time the Knoxville left back’s centering pass was clipped off the far post and into the net by Kempes Tekiela, it showed 65:05. What occurred during that interval was the epitome of patient buildup play: a deliberate, flowing movement that traversed the pitch multiple times; featured a touch from nearly every outfield player; and lulled the opposition into complacency before the attacking midfielder drifted into the penalty area and executed with lethal precision.
To put the scoring move into perspective, Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid went viral twice globally in the last few years with film of similarly lengthy, consummated sequences. It would be unfair to compare this One Knox squad with the modern crop of Galácticos, of course, but uninterrupted possessions of 30-plus concatenations that result in goals are exceedingly rare at any level of the sport. That these players accomplished such an achievement in the dwindling moments of a deadlocked knockout competition is both noteworthy and indicative of their quality and moxie.
How the team reached the 66th minute scoreless with the No. 4 seed – a first-year franchise that had been pushed to the brink of elimination the Saturday before by defending champion Union Omaha in a quarterfinal that extended beyond 30 minutes of extra time and into a penalty shootout – is worthy of dissection, as well.
Knoxville manager Ian Fuller’s starting 11 has been settled for several weeks now, and those players assimilated into his regular 4-2-3-1 formation. Perhaps taking the previous weekend’s exertions into consideration, Naples coach Matt Poland opted for a moderately more conservative yet interchangeable lineup that included a trio of defensive midfielders in front of a standard back four.
The rough-and-tumble dynamic that would define much of the match was established early on when Tekiela was unceremoniously dumped to the ground from behind within the first minute and Stavros Zarokostas reciprocated upon a Naples player before the second had expired. Head referee JC Griggs, who had his hands full on the night but made a fairly good account of himself by issuing warnings and cautions only when necessary, let these initial infractions slide.
However, while the officiating crew was adept at policing fouls, it had difficulty in correctly assessing extracurriculars and more ambiguous situations without video assistance. The first incident that would have benefited from a second look had the technology been available occurred in the 17th minute on a Zarokostas delivery into the Naples penalty area.
Babacar Diene, the target of the cross, didn’t make solid contact with his headed attempt but was convinced that the ball stuck the arm of Max Glasser on its way down. Having seen no infringement, Griggs waved away Knoxville’s petitions. Curiously, though, he stopped play and ruled for a drop ball to Naples. Center back Brecc Evans knelt to retie a shoelace, but that hardly necessitated a pause.
The first One Knox effort on goal stemmed from fancy individual footwork and passing along the right touchline by Diene and Tekiela that opened up a switch to the left flank. Ritchie played a smart one-two with Nico Rosamilia, slingshotted around Ian Cerro and fired a low shot toward goalkeeper Edward Delgado’s near post before Jake Dengler could close on him. After a short clear for a throw-in, possession cycled around to the center of the park where Abel Caputo was fouled for a free kick that Tekiela hit well but could not direct on frame.
In the 20th minute, in what proved to be a recurring theme throughout the rest of the half, the Knoxville backline effortlessly fettered the next FC attack and stormed back up the pitch with the ball. A gorgeous pass by Sivert Haugli released Ritchie down the left channel, and, following a long unimpeded run, the fullback picked out Zarokostas lurking near the back right corner of the area. The winger had enough time to settle the lofted pass but chose a first-time volley, which he thumped a couple of yards over the crossbar.
After seven months of hosting two different sports teams and regularly being converted to accommodate both for the majority of that spell, the turf at the north end of the Cove looks a bit worse for wear, and groundskeepers were summoned (for the first time but not the last) at the half-hour mark to refill a sizable divot with sand.
Following the resumption of play, Naples turned Knoxville over in its own half, broke with numbers, was repelled originally but then won a free kick when Callum Johnson plowed through the back of Kevin O’Connor. Dengler tried his luck from about 40 yards out and drew a fine save from Sean Lewis, who had to dive to parry the bouncing, surprisingly stout drive away from his near post.
Going the other way in the 35th minute, Rosamilia switched the attack to Zarokostas on the right. He found Jaheim Brown on the overlap, and the right back squared a pass to Tekiela at the edge of the 18. Quickly passing to Diene, he cut inside the area, received a return lob and headed it back into the striker’s path. The ball arrived at an awkward height, though, and Diene could only loop it over the bar.
A heavy touch by Rosamilia defused a dangerous counter in the 37th minute, but One Knox recovered possession from the ensuing goal kick, with Diene going on a strident run and sliding the ball to Zarokostas at the right of the key. The wide man’s initial shot was blocked, and he fell during the follow-through, but he got up, picked up his dribble and seemingly had his legs swiped out from underneath of him as he approached the endline.
Here is where the waters again turned murky and Griggs and company couldn’t discern much through the opacity. Apparently taking umbrage at what he considered simulation, Julian Cisneros hovered over Zarokostas and screamed at him. Rising to his feet, Zarokostas pushed the shoulder of the defender with an elbow and was clattered over from behind by Evans a split second later.
Delgado, meanwhile, lost any semblance of self-control. Darting between Griggs and the linesman, violating their personal space and screeching for a red card for a nonexistent punch, the keeper’s dramatic antics went far above and beyond acceptable on-field behavior. It was Zarokostas, however, who was presented with a yellow card, presumably for lashing out at Cisneros, even though he had a credible claim for a penalty and did little else to stir the pot.
As the dust settled following the skirmish, Naples wasn’t content with simply playing the beautiful game. Having just been uncomfortably sandwiched between two defenders a few seconds prior, Tekiela was hacked down by Christian Heckenberg after he beat him on the dribble in the 42nd minute. Still seeing red, Cisneros probably could have been shown red for unsportingly belting the ball from point-blank range off the face of the No. 10 as he was falling to the turf.
Ignoring the irritations and concentrating on the task at hand, One Knox continued to press for a go-ahead goal in the waning moments of the half. As the match entered four minutes of stoppage time, a sharp passing movement saw Brown access acres of space on the right flank with plenty of time to deliver a measured cross to Diene in the area. The chipped ball was played a little behind the striker, who backtracked, leapt and smashed a bicycle kick that flew just wide of the left stick. Delgado may have had it covered, but it was a stunning attempt, nevertheless.
The grounds crew then came out again to repair another couple of problem patches, which protracted play for longer than the allotted four minutes. Hoping to take advantage of the extra time, Ritchie and Diene exchanged passes along the left touchline in a movement reminiscent of a motion offense in basketball. It seemed to work in a likewise manner, too, as it overloaded the Naples defense to that side, and Diene was able to curl a ball to a wide-open Brown on the right.
The fullback’s whipped cross into the area dropped perfectly onto the brow of a diving Tekiela, who thrusted a fierce header from the penalty spot that clanged against the upper portion of the right upright and rebounded strongly away from goal. The chance materialized so quickly that Delgado couldn’t react and stayed rooted to his spot; had the effort been directed a few inches to the left, it would have nestled into the net.
FC’s close call was the last action of the period, as Tekiela, ruing his miss, rubbed the noggin that nearly broke the stalemate and lightly kicked the advertising boards on his way to the locker room. The chugging train that could be heard in the distance barreling through the Old City was an apt personification of what had been a dominant first-half performance by a finely tuned, well-oiled Knoxville team that outshot its opponent 10-2 and owned a full two-thirds of the possession.
With Zarokostas on a yellow and Fuller evidently not wanting to imperil the wingman’s involvement in a potential final, Gio Calixtro was substituted for him at the break. Whether or not Naples’ tepid first 45 minutes had resulted in its players receiving the hairdryer treatment from Poland at the intermission is unclear, but what is for certain is that the Paradise Coast club emerged with renewed vigor and purpose when the second half began.
Still, it was One Knox that fashioned the first good opportunity after the restart. Attacking the south end of the stadium in the 51st minute, possession was worked over to Calixtro on the right. Inching his way into the area, he waited for the defense to collapse before laying a pass off to Caputo, who was arriving near the arc at the edge of the box. Wrapping his foot around a venomous strike that glanced acutely off a defender and wide of the mark, the midfielder’s body language conveyed his frustration at the deflection. Understandably so, as it did appear that the effort may have been destined for the back of the net had its flight not been interrupted.
The resulting corner was cleared to Brown, who smacked a long-distance volley that Delgado uneasily brought down rather than catching outright, which generated a chorus of catcalls from the throng of saucy supporters in the Modelo Watering Hole. Having made himself public enemy No. 1 with his shenanigans in front of the Scruffs on the opposite end of the Cove, the entire crowd articulated its resentment every time the keeper touched the ball thereafter.
In the 55th minute, Jayden Onen played an incisive through ball to Cisneros, who sidestepped a couple of defenders before shooting toward the far post. Lewis was beaten, but Haugli had positioned himself in a suitable spot to head the ball away to safety. Two minutes later, the center back checked the run of Henderlong, who was utterly shut down all evening, and intelligently nodded a searching ball back to Lewis.
By this point, play had become stretched, and both teams were launching attacks and counters at breakneck speed. A One Knox move in the 60th minute saw Diene float a diagonal ball to Calixtro in the right channel. His cross found Tekiela, who flashed into the area and snapped a header just wide of the far post. Although the away side was inarguably in better form, it could sense that Knoxville was getting closer with its attempts, and Delgado was warned of timewasting by Griggs, which prompted another round of boos aimed at the keeper.
Fuller was carded for dissent in the 62nd minute before a Naples corner, from which FC again came close to breaching the Knoxville defense. Playing it short from the right flag, O’Connor bent a long delivery to the left corner of the goal box where Diene was guarding Evans. Perhaps it was a matter of his striker’s instinct kicking in, but Diene headed the ball back across his own goal, past Lewis and toward a gaping net. Skelton swooped in to the rescue, however, and headed it off the goal line.
It was from the next passage of play that One Knox snatched victory from the jaws of prospective defeat. The momentum that it had maintained from the first half had long since dissipated, and it was starting to feel as if the home side were mere moments away from being punished for not having capitalized on its earlier supremacy. However, Henderlong’s appeal for a foul on Skelton for the tackle that ceded possession was muted and largely without merit, and Knoxville was off to the races.
Tekiela’s side-footed finish did take a slight deflection off the underside of Evans’ outstretched leg en route to kissing off the back stick and in, but the meaningless touch on the desperate lunge neither changed the direction of the shot nor marred the movement as a whole – and it definitely didn’t dampen the wild celebrations that erupted in its aftermath.
With the stadium lights blinking off and on and bedlam enrapturing the crowd, Tekiela bolted toward the section of away fans who had made the 828-mile trek from South Florida to cheer on their team. Boisterous at kickoff and sporadically noisy since then, they could only look on in crushed silence as the goalscorer taunted them with Dikembe Mutombo-esque wags of his finger and intimations that they were freezing at this more northerly parallel. Or was he implying that his finish for the goal was ice cold? Only the German knows for sure.
Henderlong for once got the better of Skelton in the 69th minute. After blocking the defender’s pass, the No. 9 was grabbed and prevented from going on a dash with the ball, which drew a deserved caution on the Knoxville skipper. Callum Johnson, who put in a tremendous and thankless yet under-the-radar shift alongside Caputo in the pivot, was replaced by Angelo Kelly with 20 minutes to go. Then, in the last instance of the officiating crew perhaps making an improper judgement, a long throw-in in the 72nd minute resulted in a goalmouth scramble that almost leveled the proceedings.
Cisneros heaved the ball from the left touchline into the area, where it was flicked on at the front post by O’Connor. Ritchie’s header at the back stick denied a crashing Henderlong, but it went almost straight up in the air instead of away. Lewis rushed out to snag the ball but tripped before reaching it and fanned at it instead. It bounced off the back of Marc Torellas’ head and fell to Evans, who swiveled and volleyed on goal. Brown cleared it off the goal line and away to safety.
As it was goal-bound, though, the ball struck Haugli’s arm – which was located in an unnatural position away from his torso – and was redirected, losing quite a bit of velocity in the process. While Ritchie and Brown were ideally situated along the line and might have been able to stop it from getting through, regardless, the dangling limb altered the shot enough to warrant a penalty call. With a quarter of an hour left, the home side was extremely fortunate to escape unscathed.
The 4,285 in attendance seemed to gather its collective breath for the next few minutes, even as the intensity never decreased. Calixtro pumped a low cross into the area in the 77th minute that Delgado dove to palm away just before Diene could get a touch on it. Conversely, two second-half subs almost connected for Naples in the 79th. Andrés Ferrín got on the end of a Luka Prpa cross but screwed his header well wide, as Brown applied substantial pressure to influence the wayward attempt.
Tensions ran high as the last 10 minutes of the semifinal counted down. One Knox tried to retain as much possession as possible, mostly electing for back passes even when more progressive options abounded. The lone exception was a promising foray forward in the 86th minute in which Diene, having skyed to win a header that dropped to Rosamilia in the arc, coiled on a decoy run around the left of the rookie to open up space in the middle of the area.
Kelly, a late runner into the box, trapped Rosamilia’s pass and shifted the ball from his left to his right foot. Evans trailed a boot that made just enough contact on the ball to cause it to bobble up, complicating the chance. Kelly applied a deft, subtle touch, though, and rocketed a low wormburner across goal. The effort pinged off the inside of the post and rebounded behind Delgado and back to Kelly, who, off-balance and unable to sort out his feet, agonizingly sent it flying over the bar.
The missed opportunity was excruciating for the home fans, many of whom (me included) thought that the original shot had been converted. Relieved, Naples swarmed forward in numbers for the remaining four minutes of regulation and an extensive amount of added time in the hope of salvaging its season.
In the 90th minute, a long free kick was rifled into the Knoxville area, and Skelton headed it over the endline for a corner. Incensed at the lack of communication from his teammates, who he felt should have alerted him that there was no clear and present danger and to let it go, he yelled and gestured animatedly, beseeching them to focus on closing out the game. The ensuing corner was a towering inswinger that Lewis rose confidently to secure at the edge of his goal box and extinguish the threat.
In the 92nd minute, Ritchie and Brown combined to shepherd another headed-on free kick that into the grateful grasp of their netminder, who thundered a punt most of the length of the pitch, where it was headed by Calixtro over the endline for an FC goal kick. Delgado was heckled yet again when he ran over in front of the Watering Hole to collect the ball, and he couldn’t help but respond on this occasion. Although his glare was sinister, his shouts were less so, as they were drowned out and rendered inaudible by the barrage of loud jeers hurled from the party patio.
Prpa and Ferrín hooked up again in the 93rd minute, although this time the former was facilitated by the latter. Ferrín’s right-footed trivela from the left flank bowed into the path of Prpa, who came close but couldn’t quite poke home his stabbed effort inside the near post. Aside from a half-chance at the death that came about from a long throw-in that was flicked on twice but bombed into the stands by Haugli, Naples never again seriously troubled the Knoxville net.
A collision between Skelton and Onen that required each to receive medical attention delayed play for several minutes as the match crept past the fixed five that had been appended. In the 100th, though, Griggs whistled thrice to signal the end of the contest, and One Knox players, coaches and supporters alike could celebrate advancing to the USL League One Final for a shot at winning a double.
To their credit, the FC players and coaching staff joined the away supporters in the southwestern corner of the park at full time and applauded their devotion, which was solemnly returned in kind. And although the Knoxville fans weren’t shy in expressing their revelry, the team itself was decidedly more subdued, as the ultimate goal of winning a league title in addition to the Players’ Shield trophy is now firmly on the table.
On the Tuesday following the semifinal, top individual honors were bestowed upon the two One Knox players nominated for awards. Skelton was named Defender of the Year, and Lewis was selected Goalkeeper of the Year for the second time in as many seasons. Fuller was one of four managers up for Coach of the Year, but the gaffer lost out to Scott Mackenzie of in-state foe Chattanooga Red Wolves SC.
Having outlasted South Georgia Tormenta FC and Portland Hearts of Pine, respectively, in its last two playoff fixtures, Spokane Velocity will be One Knox’s opponent in the final, which will kick off at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16. Both of those matches surpassed the 120-minute mark and were decided on penalties, and the Washington club will have to travel across the country for the all-important tilt.
Spokane, which lost to Omaha in the 2024 championship game, has experience on its side, though, and its squad depth is virtually unrivaled in League One. Knoxville, on the other hand, is riding a 16-game unbeaten streak at home and is playing the best it has all year. The teams faced each other twice in the regular season, with Knoxville equalizing late in a 2-2 draw on the road in its first match of 2025 on March 16 and later eking out a 1-0 win at the Cove on the unseasonably cool evening of Aug. 30.
One Knox set the League One attendance record in the first game at its new home on April 26; that 2-2 draw versus USL Championship side FC Tulsa (which is playing a conference semi of its own on Saturday) in the Jägermeister Cup pulled in 6,378 spectators. Portland broke the record last month by packing Fitzpatrick Stadium with 6,440 attendees, but now Knoxville has shattered it for a second time this season.
With 6,450 tickets having been sold and only limited standing-room tickets still available, the last match of the year at CHP is rapidly approaching a complete sellout. Apart from the increased turnout, the environment promises to be even more convivial and accessible for the home fans – and maybe more intimidating for the opposition – because the protective baseball netting has been lowered for this game, removing a literal and figurative barrier between what will be a capacity crowd and the players on the pitch.
