Recap: One Knox and Lexington battle to a 1-1 draw in their second meeting of the season
One Knox SC battle to a 1-1 draw against Lexington SC in their second meeting of the season, this time in Georgetown, Kentucky, at the Toyota Stadium.
Although One Knox had a majority of the chances, Lexington was able to hold strong and fight for a draw after conceding 15 shots, but only three of One Knox’s chances were on target.
“I’m disappointed we’re no longer leaving with three points,” head coach Mark McKeever said. “It was one moment that cost us the points, but I feel as though we played the system better in this game than we did the last game, which is always the objective.”
One Knox came out of the locker room with the most energy, keeping 60% of possession in the first 15 minutes. However, the squad wasn’t able to put a shot on goal in seven tries during the entire first half.
Lexington was able to capitalize and strike first with a goal by Nico Brown in the 43’ off of a cross from Tate Robertson to grab the lead just before halftime.
Knoxville was able to rally in the second half behind a 67’ equalizer from leading scorer Jake Keegan. The goal came from a well-hit, low-driven cross from Jan Erik Leinhos to give Keegan his fifth goal of the season.
While the shot difference was the main standout, the teams were virtually even in a majority of the other statistics. Both squads had a passing accuracy of around 85%, and possession was split fairly evenly with One Knox getting 52.7% and Lexington owning 47.3% possession.
After Keegan’s goal, One Knox continued to press for a winner but fell short despite there being good opportunities for a goal down the stretch.
“I felt as though we created a lot of chances,” McKeever said. “We just need to finish our chances, and we’ll come away with points.”
Despite only the one point, Mckeever liked what he saw from his squad during the match.
“I’m very happy with the work ethic…” McKeever said. “I’m delighted with the lads and delighted with the progress. We walk away with one point. Wish it was three, but we’ll take it on the road.”
The result keeps One Knox toward the top of the table in third place on the table with 15 points, just one point ahead of Northern Colorado FC and the Richmond Kickers. The squad trails both North Carolina FC and the Charlotte Independence by four points. Lexington jumps to tenth in the table with 8 points.
The two expansion clubs will face off one more time later down the line on August 18 for their third meeting of the season.
One Knox returns home to Regal Soccer Stadium to face North Carolina FC on June 3rd at 7:30 p.m.