| USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 14 | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| ONE KNOXVILLE SC (9-2-3 | 30 PTS) | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| AC BOISE (6-6-3 | 21 PTS) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
GARDEN CITY, Idaho. – It may not have been the performance that Head Coach Ian Fuller envisioned, but he will take the three points on the road all the same. One Knoxville SC’s unblemished road record is alive and well following a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over AC Boise on Saturday.
“The group showed great character,” Fuller said. “The suffered for almost the entire match and then we had some moments of brilliance. This is not the way we want to play and not the way we drew it up, but three points away from home at a very difficult place to play, we’re thrilled with that part.”
With the win, One Knox moves its unbeaten streak up to five matches across all competitions and is now 5-0-2 in USL League One away matches as the squad holds its second place position in the standings with 30 points. For the second consecutive match, Finn McRobb and Teddy Baker put their names on the scoresheet as Knoxville achieved its first USL1 win in which it conceded first, while Boise suffered its first loss in a match that it opened the scoring.
The victory came in a way that One Knox is not accustomed to, as the home side controlled the flow of the match with over 60% of the possession and had a 15-7 shot advantage. But despite absorbing the pressure for much of the evening, Knoxville showed its toughness and was opportunistic with the little chances it had.
“We had to defend on all different parts of the pitch,” said Fuller. “We struggled with their shape against the ball and road our luck a lot, but that sometimes happens away from home. Individually, I don’t know if I can pick out one to say they played great, but collectively, we were fantastic in how we stuck together and had each other’s backs.”
The difference came in 81st minute on a rare occasion where One Knox found itself with the ball in the final third. Beginning with a throw-in on the left side of the pitch, Knoxville was able to string together 16 total passes to matriculate the ball into the box.
The final ball came from Babacar Diene as the forward laid it off for Baker who unleashed a low, driven strike with his right-footed, slotting it into the left corner of the net to give his side its first lead of the night.
“The kid is class,” Fuller said of Baker. “We need to get him on the ball more, but our midfielders had to do a lot of defensive work, so there wasn’t many opportunities. But the ball popped up well for him there and he didn’t have to have much backswing to drive right through it.”
The goal continues a great run of form from Baker who tallied a goal and an assist his last time out – a 4-1 win over the Spokane Velocity.
His late winner was set up thanks to McRobb’s second goal of the season, coming right before halftime in the 44th minute. The Scottish defender was quick to pounce with a volley into the open net following a failed punch from Boise goalkeeper Jonathan Kliewer, who was challenged in the air by One Knox’s Mikke Gøling.
“We know he has that in him,” Fuller said of McRobb as a scoring threat. “He can strike the ball. He didn’t need much of an angle, he just put his foot through it. I’m thrilled for him and the build up to that goal is everything we thought would happen.”
McRobb’s drew things even after AC Boise took the lead 22 minutes earlier on a goal from Nick Moon. But the One Knox defense stood tall following that earlier blemish, holding Boise to just two more shots on target despite the overwhelming possession.
Goalkeeper Johan Garibay came up with a pair of clutch saves, first in the 37th minute with a diving stop to his left on an attempt from Thomas Amang and then to his right in the 67th minute to deny a Jake Crull header.
“We struggled to hold onto the ball and get up the field, so we had to defend deep,” explained Fuller. “It was something that we worked on a little, but we thought that we could keep the ball more. It didn’t work out that way and we pivoted really well. I have to give our backline credit and our three midfielders in front of them. They all worked their socks off.”
Another positive for One Knoxville was the return of Real Gill. The Trinidad and Tobago forward entered the match in the 72nd minute to mark his first appearance since suffering an injury against FC Tulsa in a Prinx Tires USL Cup match on April 25.
> MATCH DETAILS
LINEUPS
KNX: Garibay – GK, Tiao, Skelton – C, McRobb, Perkins (Gill 72′), Baker, Caputo, Gøling (McLeod 61′), Murphy Jr. (Fernandez 82′), Linhares (Conway 45′), Krioutchenkov (Diene 61′)
ACB: Kliewer – GK, Crull, Dengler – C, Yaro, Ricketts (Hanson 74′), Mayaka, Moon (Ndiaye 74′), Gasso, Kostyshyn, Moshobane, Amang
GOALS
KNX: McRobb 44′; Baker 81′
ACB: Moon 22′
DISCIPLINE
KNX: Tiao (Yellow) 24′; Caputo (Yellow) 73′; McLeod (Yellow) 76′; Skelton (Yellow) 89′
ACB: Kostyshyn (Yellow) 31′; Mayaka (Yellow) 90′; Dengler (Yellow) 90+6′
NEXT UP
Looking to keep the momentum going, One Knox returns to action on July 11 for a USL Cup match at Corpus Christi FC. It will be the third and final meeting with Corpus Christi in 2026, having played to a pair of draws in USL1 action. After concluding the road trip, the squad will be back home at Covenant Health Park for a pair of matches against Fort Wayne FC on July 15 (tickets) and AV Alta FC on July 18 (tickets).
