| 2026 LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP | ROUND OF 32 | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | EXTRA TIME | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONE KNOXVILLE SC | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3(6) |
| DC UNITED | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3(5) |
WASHINGTON D.C. – As soon as the ball hit the back of the net, Kyle Linhares dropped to his knees and thanked the heavens. The next thing he knew, a mass of bodies clad in orange and beige were piling on top of him.
And he didn’t mind it at all.
“It was great,” an elated Linhares recalled. “Everyone was screaming and hopping on. It was a great moment.”
Linhares met the moment in a big way as his penalty was the difference as One Knoxville SC pulled off one of the biggest results in its history, outlasting DC United in penalties on Saturday at Audi Field to secure the club’s first ever win over a Major League Soccer team and a berth in the Round of 16 in the 2026 Lamar Hunt Open Cup.
“I can’t really describe what I’m feeling,” Linhares shared. “It’s been a tough start to the season for me, getting in and out of the squad, but I just continued to work hard and have faith. I knew in the right moment that I’d have (a chance) and it was today, so I’m just really grateful for it.”
One Knox is the lone representative left in the tournament from USL League One. The club will now face another MLS club in the fourth round, traveling to the Columbus Crew on either April 28 or 29.
“We went in thinking that we were the better team,” said One Knox Head Coach Ian Fuller. “I am so damned pleased for these guys. Everything that they’ve gone through and fought for, facing an MLS opponent is never easy and these guys did it on the road to advance, and with the way we did, I’m just so pleased for them.”
The elation of the result is not only because of the history involved, but also because it came in a match that was going back and forth all evening long in the nation’s capital. The visiting side found itself trailing twice throughout the 120 minutes of play, only to pick itself off the mat each time to force penalties.
No stranger to that type of pressure, One Knox goalkeeper Jonathan Burke stepped up for a huge save on DC’s Gabriel Pirani. It marked the first and only missed penalty by either side, coming in the sixth round of kicks to set up Linhares’ clincher.
“What an experience to be with these guys and just come together and have each other’s backs,” said Burke as One Knox came through on penalty picks for a second consecutive match in the Open Cup.
“We all have confidence in each other and what we can do. We had a game plan and we stuck to it, but we’re very good in adapting as the match goes on. Everyone just had a blast playing. What a team win.”
The save was an especially powerful one for Burke, making amends after he misread a ball over the top in the 97th minute that led to a DC United goal by Peglow to put DC United up 3-2 in extra time.
That scoreline held until the 113th minute when One Knox forward Denis Krioutchenkov scored on an assist from Will Perkins to notch the match’s third tied scoreline.
It was the second goal of the night for the USL1 March Player of the Month. His first coming just a minute after he entered the match in the 77th minute when he finished off a Jaheim Brown cross to give One Knox a 2-1 lead – it’s first of the match.
“Emotions are through the roof right now,” explained Krioutchenkov. “Everyone just worked their butts off and never gave up. When we do that as a team, we create chances and we have some the best finishers in the country.”
Babacar Diene opened the scoring for the visiting side in the 75th minute by slotting home a shot past DC United Alex Bono off a saved shot from Braudilio Rodrigues.
Diene’s second goal of the tournament canceled out the first goal of the night from DC United captain Matti Peltola. The hosts grabbed its second from Nikola Markovic in the 83rd minute to send the match to extra time with a 2-2 score.
It was just added to what seemed like a mountain of adversity that One Knox had to overcome, beginning in the second minute of first half stoppage time when a Finn McRobb header from a corner appeared to clear the line after it bounced off the crossbar, however, a goal was not awarded.
But instead of feeling hard done by the 0-0 halftime score, Fuller felt that it only added fuel to his team’s fire.
“We tried to use it to our advantage,” Fuller said of his halftime talk to the team. “If we’re in the locker room up 1-0, maybe we don’t have the same mentality, so my message was to remind the team that we haven’t scored even though we had a good half, so lets go out and prove it again”
Both teams finished the match with six total shots on target, while One Knox had a slight edge in possession at 52.5%. While not on the scoresheet, Rodrigues and midfielder Mikkel Gøling were a driving force in the One Knox attack with seven combined chances created between the two.
Dani Fernandez entered the match for Chris Tiao to mark the defender’s 100th appearance across all competitions with the club.
> MATCH DETAILS
LINEUPS
KNX: Burke – GK, Tiao (Fernandez 77′), Skelton – C, McRobb, Brown (Perkins 98′), Gøling, Caputo (Krioutchenkov 77′), Murphy Jr. (Cordova 62′), Rodrigues, Gill (Conway 62′), Diene (Linhares 90′)
DCU: Bono – GK, Rowles, Markovic, Antley (Hefti 82′), Peglow, Hopkins (Servania 45′), Peltola – C, Kijima (Stroud 45′), Munteanu (Murrell 76′), Turner (Pirani 45′)
GOALS
KNX: Diene 75′; Krioutchenkov 78′, 113′
DCU: Peltola 61′; Markovic 83′; Peglow 97′
DISCIPLINE
KNX: Fernandez (Yellow) 95′; Perkins (Yellow) 118′
DCU: Markovic (Yellow) 65′
NEXT UP
With its dream run in the Open Cup still going strong, One Knoxville returns to USL1 play on Saturday as it hosts the Charlotte Independence. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET (tickets) and it will mark One Knox’s first match at Covenant Health Park in three weeks, having played its last four matches away from home. Charlotte also played in a Round of 32 match on Wednesday, falling 6-0 to MLS’ Charlotte FC.
