One Knox SC Moves to Top of the Table with Win

USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 8	1ST HALF	2ND HALF	FINAL
ONE KNOXVILLE SC (5-1-2 | 17 PTS)	1	2	3
FC NAPLES (4-2-2 | 14 PTS)	0	0	0

NAPLES, Fla. – Seeing its run in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup end just three days prior, there was never going to be time to sulk for One Knoxville SC. Entering the day tied with FC Naples on 14 points apiece, One Knox rebounded and regrouped on Saturday with aplomb, racing past its opponent for a 3-0 victory at Paradise Sports Complex to move to the top of the USL League One table.

“What a way to be away from home and win,” said Head Coach Ian Fuller. “I hate looking at the table and not seeing us at the top of it. We came here last year when they were at the top and we beat them which helped springboard us. So the motivation to do that again was there. The training staff did a great job in getting our legs back and we came up with a good gameplan.”

With the win, One Knox remains unbeaten and unscored on in four matches against FC Naples as the squad thwarted the home side’s revenge plans with the two squads having last met in the 2025 USL1 semifinals.

Forward Denis Krioutchenkov pushed his team lead in goals to seven across all competitions with a pair of goals, while his striker partner Babacar Diene added a goal and an assist in what was the first time this season that Knoxville deployed both forwards in the starting lineup.

“We wanted to stretch them for sure,” Fuller noted on the different formation look. “We wanted to give both a chance to run in behind. The hardest thing for the last month has been that both of our strikers have been in form, so when you usually only play one, it’s tough to decide which one fits the best each match, but tonight we gave both a run out.”

Saturday’s exploits from Krioutchenkov marks the third time that the rookie forward has recorded a brace in 2026, along with the season opener against Westchester SC and in the Round of 32 US Open Cup win over DC United.

“It was a top of the table clash, so for us we viewed this as the most important game that we’ve played so far,” Krioutchenkov explained. “We did really well as group fighting for every ball and then just taking our chances whenever we could.”

The three goals come despite One Knox only occupying 36.3% of the possession, opting for a more direct route over the top.

That led to Krioutchenkov’s opening goal in the 21st minute after a successful defense of a Naples corner saw Baker launch a ball to the other end of the pitch. Krioutchenkov was able to run past the Naples backline and won his one-on-one battle with goalkeeper Edward Delgado with his right foot, putting the visitors in front 1-0.

That scoreline would hold through the break, but just six minutes into the second half, Krioutchenkov struck gold once again and it started all the way back with Johan Garibay. After corralling an errant attempt from FC Naples, the Knoxville keeper booted a curling line drive that found the feet of Diene. From there, the Senegalese forward picked out a cutting Krioutchenkov, who once again showed composure with his first touch before beating Delgado once again.

“I know I’m always going to be put in good positions from my teammates and in those moments, time just slows down for me,” Krioutchenkov said. “They know where I’m running to and where I want the ball and the final part is me just getting a touch, seeing where the keeper is and finishing and in those moments it feels like I have seconds to make a decision when really, it’s more like milliseconds.”

While not officially credited with the assist, the initial ball leading to the goal was the cherry on top of what ended up being a fourth clean sheet of the season for Garibay, who now leads the league in shutouts.

Diene later removed all doubt as to which team would be the victors on the evening with a headed goal off a rebound from a shot by Jaheim Brown.

“I was really pleased that Baba got his goal after the assist,” Fuller said. “He is a really good player and has a work rate that never seems to drop.”

The victory felt especially rewarding for the squad as it was the first time that it stepped on a soccer pitch since Wednesday’s US Open Cup loss to the Columbus Crew, opting to focus on mentally and physically recovering. Only four players who started in Columbus carried over to the starting lineup on Saturday with the Knoxville depth proving itself in the end.

“We had a really nice regen session on the beach,” said Fuller. “Just getting our guys spirits back up was very important for us. Clearly I have a (starting) eleven in my mind for certain games, but everyone is here for a reason and so we trusted our guys to play the minutes that they did.”

NEXT UP
Having played three matches over the course of seven days, One Knoxville SC finally gets somewhat of a reprieve as it won’t be back on the pitch until May 13 when it returns to Covenant Health Park to take on Union Omaha for a 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff (tickets). It will mark the squad’s first home match in nearly a month, having last played in front of a home crowd in its 2-1 win over the Charlotte Independence on April 18. The wait for the next home match after Omaha won’t be as long when it resumes Prinx Tires USL Cup play on May 16 against USL Championship’s San Antonio FC (tickets).