Last Second Goal Sees One Knox SC Grab a Point

USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 10	1ST HALF	2ND HALF	FINAL
ONE KNOXVILLE SC (5-2-3 | 18 PTS)	0	2	2
CORPUS CHRISTI FC (0-4-5 | 5 PTS)	1	1	2

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – With the six minutes of second half stoppage time already exhausted, Teddy Baker knew that his corner kick was going to be One Knoxville SC’s last chance to salvage something in the match.

“The ref said this was going to be the last kick, so I knew I had to make something happen,” he recalled of the final moments with his team trailing by a goal.

“The wind was blowing (towards the goal), so I figured if I can whip it in towards the keeper and give someone a chance to redirect it. As I sent it in and saw the lads flash across, I thought ‘this has a chance’.”

It turns out that the One Knox midfielder was right to think that as his ball into the box went through the hands of opposing goalkeeper Logan Erb and nestled just inside the far post for an own goal and the most unlikeliest of equalizers. The whistle blew almost immediately following the ensuing kickoff and, somehow, someway, One Knox secured a road point in a 2-2 draw against Corpus Christi FC on Saturday night.

“It’s never easy in this league,” said Baker as his squad fought for a result despite playing a man down for much of the second half. “At that moment, there was more relief than anything, but I think when we come back and look at the tape, we’ll obviously be disappointed that we didn’t play to our capabilities.”

One Knox Head Coach Ian Fuller echoes those sentiments following a night at Cabaniss Ahtletic Complex where he saw his team come out sluggish and having to constantly dig itself out of a hole for much of the evening.

“Our energy didn’t match our ability,” Fuller said. “I thought we were flat and our decision making was poor. I’m really disappointed in the group, looking at the overall performance and not the end result.

“The reality is that we probably didn’t deserve that tonight and it’s a painful one for Corpus Christi. We’ve got to really get motivated here as we move forward.”

Corpus Christi’s Blake Bowen gave One Knox fits for much of the evening, tallying a brace with goals on either side of halftime. Forward Braudilio Rodrigues accounted for the visitors’ first equalizer, scoring from close range in the 55th minute by getting on the end of a Jordan Skelton header off of a long throw-in.

It was a goal that suddenly flipped the momentum, coming shortly after midfielder Mikkel Gøling was issued a red card and sent off in the 48th minute from a collision with Corpus Christi defender Sam Roscoe-Byrne.

“We came out well in the second half and had our moments,” explained Fuller. “It was only natural for them to go into a defensive shell when they are up a man and a goal, but I was pleasantly surprised by the way we reacted to that. It just shows you that we have that in us, but you can’t pick and choose when to play your maximum. We as a team and a staff need to look at that in its entirety.”

Despite the disadvantage, One Knox grabbed the advantage in total shots (5-3) and final third entries (52-33) in the second half, but appeared to be all for naught when Bowen put the home side back ahead in the 69th minute.

But to One Knox’s credit, the squad was undeterred and when Baker entered the match off the bench a minute after his side fell behind 2-1, he knew there was still something to be had on the night.

“We know we have the talent that, even down a man, a result was possible,” he said. “It wasn’t just us kicking the ball down the field and hoping, we kept moving the ball to try and break them down and get in their box. That kind of summed up the game with how we were able to get the goal in the end.”

NEXT UP
With the draw, One Knoxville SC pushes its USL League One point total up to 18 and remains in second place in the standings. The squad will look to get a full three points when it returns home on Friday, May 29 to take on Greenville Triumph SC.

“We’re going to get together as a staff and figure this out,” Fuller said. “I asked the guys tonight to look into a mirror and figure out why we showed up flat because that can’t happen again at home.”

Kickoff from Covenant Health Park is set for 6:30 p.m. ET (tickets). It kicks off a three match home stand that includes a June 10 Prinx Tires USL Cup match against Chattanooga Red Wolves SC and the club’s first ever meeting against the New York Cosmos on June 13.