| USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 2 | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| FORWARD MADISON FC (1-0-0 | 3 PTS) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| ONE KNOXVILLE SC (1-1-0 | 3 PTS) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A first half go-ahead goal was not enough in the end for One Knoxville SC as it drops its 2026 home opener, 2-1, to Forward Madison FC on Saturday at Covenant Health Park.
“It was a really rough night,” said One Knox Head Coach Ian Fuller. “It’s a long season and we need to regroup, but I feel for the supporters who came out tonight because we didn’t put on a good show. We started out decently, but the quality just wasn’t there.”
With midfielder John Murphy Jr. putting the home side in front in the 16th minute with his second goal in as many matches, it appeared as though One Knox was well on its way to continuing its home dominance. However, goals from Forward Madison’s Turner Humphrey and Stephen Gyamfi in the 24th and 39th minutes, respectively, sees One Knox’s regular season unbeaten home streak come to an end at 21 games.
While that stings, the club knows it can use this early adversity as a learning opportunity if approached with the right mentality.
“The lesson is that even if we’re a good team, we have to show up every night,” Murphy Jr. said. “We’re talented, but every game in this league is a battle, so you’re not just going to walk out and win with talent. You have to work hard and fight for everything.”
Murphy got the crowd on its feet early on, when he pounced on a deflected shot from defender Chris Tiao and was able to sneak the follow-up by a diving JT Harms for the 1-0 advantage.
Unfortunately for One Knox, that would its first and last shot on target, despite outshooting Forward Madison 12-10, with nine of those shots coming inside the box. The visitors meanwhile converted on a pair of its four shots on frame and packed it in on defense once it gained the lead.
“After the goal, we took our foot off the gas a little bit,” said Murphy Jr. who played for Forward Madison from 2024-25. “They won the second ball battle and had a little more fight. That’s what won them the game in the end.”
There were seven combined yellow cards issued throughout the match with Forward Madison earning five of them.
One Knox finished the match with 60% of the possession and had 21 touches in the opposing box on 69 final third entries, while its opponent had 11 on 68 entries.
“Looking internally, we just weren’t good with the ball,” explained Fuller. “We were not compact without it and didn’t react well to losing possession, which happened way too often.”
After playing for One Knox’s inaugural USL2 season, defender Finn McRobb marked his return to the club, substituting on to begin the second half. Forward Babacar Diene also got on the pitch for the first in 2026, with last season’s club leader in goals entering in the 72nd minute.
> MATCH DETAILS
LINEUPS
MAD: Harms – GK, McCamy, Carmichael, Kanyane, Edwards (Monjuma 72′), Gebhard (Romanshyn 81′) Torres, Humphrey, Segbers – C (Machasen 45′), Carmichael (N’Goubou 67′), Gyamfi
KNX: Garibay – GK, Tiao, Skelton – C, Fernandez (Gill 67′), Brown, Gøling, Murphy Jr. (Diene 72′), Caputo (McRobb 45′), Baker, Zarokostas (Linhares 45′), Krioutchenkov
GOALS
MAD: Humphrey 24′; Gyamfi 39′
KNX: Murphy Jr. 16′
DISCIPLINE
MAD: Carmichael (Yellow) 13′; Kanyane (Yellow) 36′; Segbers (Yellow) 45+4′; Machasen (Yellow) 52′; Torres (Yellow) 56′
KNX: Caputo (Yellow) 34′; Zarokostas (Yellow) 42′
NEXT UP
One Knox won’t have much time to fester on its first defeat of 2026 as it switches competitions in less than a week. The club travels to New Jersey on Wednesday to face SC Vistula Garfield in the first round of the 2026 U.S. Open Cup.
“If we play like we did tonight, we’ll get knocked out very early,” Fuller stated. “We’re going back to the drawing board, get some rest, change some things and see where we are at.”
Kick off for that match is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be available to watch for free on US Soccer’s YouTube channel. One Knoxville returns to USL League One and Covenant Health Park on Tuesday, March 24 when it welcomes league debutants Corpus Christi FC (tickets).
