| 2026 PRINX TIRES USL CUP | GROUP 3 | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAN ANTONIO FC (1W-0L-1D; 5PTS) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| ONE KNOXVILLE SC (0W-1L-1D; 2PTS) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – One Knoxville SC appeared to be well on its way to heading to the halftime break with an even scoreline and some momentum, having been the more dangerous side through the first 45 minutes. However, what was essentially the last touch of the first half ended up being the difference in the contest, as a goal off a corner kick for San Antonio FC was enough to hand the home side a 1-0 defeat on Saturday night.
“We didn’t play at our best,” said Head Coach Ian Fuller afterwards. “We weren’t as tidy as we should’ve been. We had our moments in stretches, but then we just didn’t finish our chances. We played a good team that is top in the (USL Championship) West and competed at a high level, but just didn’t get a result.
“We’ve got to get it right, especially at home.”
The loss sees One Knoxville SC stay at two points in the Prinx Tires USL Cup with two more matches remaining in the Prinx Tires USL Cup.
It marks the second straight loss at Covenant Health Park for the club following a 2-1 result against Union Omaha in USL League One play. And like that match on Wednesday, One Knox once again finished the match with a higher expected goals metric than its opponent, only to come up short.
From kickoff, it appeared that if there was to going to be a goal, it would come from the home side, beginning in the fifth minute when Mikkel Gøling’s free kick from just outside the box found was headed on frame by Denis Krioutchenkov, forcing a diving stop on the line by San Antonio FC goalkeeper Richard Sanchez.
Sanchez would be beaten 20 minutes later when a mishit from Krioutchenkov trickled out to a wide open Braudilio Rodrigues in the box, but while the One Knox winger’s shot got by the keeper, it squarely hit the post and bounced out of harm’s way.
Those missed opportunities made what was to eventually come hurt more. With the allotted three minutes of first half stoppage time nearly up, San Antonio won a corner on the left side. A whipped-in ball from Dmitri Erofeev found an unmarked Tiago Suarez who rose to headed it off of Gøling at the near post and ricocheted into the net.
“Allowing a set piece goal is really disappointing, they’re adding up and it’s not a good look for us,” Fuller said. “We had some really good moments in the first half but then I felt we dropped off a little bit. It wasn’t our energy, it was just our quality and decision making. That leads you to start thinking it may not be our night and there was no concentration on defending the set piece. Our confidence after things go poorly is something we’ve got to work on.”
It was the lone blemish for what was an otherwise solid performance in goal from Jonathan Burke. Making his first appearance since One Knoxville’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup match at the Columbus Crew on April 29, the goalkeeper showed little signs of rust with four saves on the evening, including a strong parry away on a one-on-one attempt in the 89th minute to keep his squad in the match.
Burke also showed confidence with his feet, twice coming out of his box and beating a San Antonio player to the ball and clearing it out of danger.
“Burkie has been great for us every time he’s gotten the chance,” said Fuller. “It’s tough as a goalkeeper when you’re not always playing and it can lead to some bad decisions when you do play, but he didn’t have any tonight. He came up big a few times.”
Another bright spot on an otherwise tough evening for One Knoxville SC was the return of midfielder Nico Rosamilia. Having been sidelined due to a lower body injury that he suffered in the preseason, the 2025 USL1 Finals Most Valuable Player came on in the 79th minute for Rodrigues and put in a shift, completing all but one of his six passes.
“Nico is going to give us a boost, there’s no question about it,” Fuller explained. “Whether it’s in the locker room, during training or in matches, he just brings the energy and a light that we need, especially during this time right now when we’re not getting the results that we wanted. I’m pleased for him because he’s worked his socks off to get back.”
> MATCH DETAILS
LINEUPS
SA: Sanchez – GK C, Barbir, Suarez, Souahy, Flores, Buckmaster (Ward 60′), Patino (Haakenson 71′), Berron (Calov 60′), Erofeev (Hernandez 71′), Sorto, Pacheco (Cuello 43′)
KNX: Burke – GK, Williams (Perkins 63′), Fernandez – C, McRobb, Brown (Tiao 79′), Gøling, Caputo (Murphy Jr. 63′), Rodrigues (Rosamilia 79′), Linhares (Zarokostas 63′), Krioutchenkov, Diene
GOALS
SA: Suarez 45+4′
KNX:
DISCIPLINE
SA: Souahy (Yellow) 31′; Calov (Yellow) 69′; Barbir (Yellow) 84′; Flores (Yellow) 90+3′
KNX: Murphy Jr. (Yellow) 74′; Burke (Yellow) 90+4′
NEXT UP
Dealing with some rare adversity with two consecutive defeats at home, One Knoxville will now look to flip the script as it heads back out on the road, where it is unbeaten in USL1 and USL Cup play. The squad returns to league action and travels to face Corpus Christi FC on Saturday, May 23.
“We need to roll our sleeves up and get back to work,” Fuller noted. “Clearly not the results we wanted at home, but we’re going to fight like hell to come back Saturday.”
Kickoff for that match in Texas is set for 8:30 p.m. ET. The club then returns to Covenant Health Park on Friday, May 29 to host Greenville Triumph SC (tickets).
