Caputo’s Stunner Moves One Knox into First Place

USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 15	1ST HALF	2ND HALF	FINAL
FORT WAYNE FC (6-3-6 | 26 PTS)	0	1	1
ONE KNOXVILLE SC (10-2-3 | 33 PTS)	0	2	2

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A gritty match called for an equally gritty, yet elegant, match-winning strike.

In his 58th appearance in a One Knoxville SC kit, Abel Caputo picked the perfect time to notch his first goal with the club. His rocket volley from outside the box deep in the second half secured a 2-1 victory over Fort Wayne FC on Wednesday night, putting his club back in first place in USL League One in the process.

“That’s who we are,” a relieved Caputo said after his 81st minute winner. “We can do it the pretty way or the ugly way. That shows our quality in that we can dig games out of nowhere. It was like that last year and that identity has stayed.”

Sitting on 33 points, One Knox moves its unbeaten streak to eight matches with the win and is now a winner of five straight in USL1. The win also halts a string of 11 consecutive matches without a league loss for Fort Wayne FC who leaves Covenant Health Park with its first defeat since March 28.

“I’m proud of the way the guys fought,” One Knoxville SC Head Coach Ian Fuller said. “It was not an easy match against a really difficult opponent.”

Joining Caputo on the scoresheet for the home side was defender Scott McLeod in a rare start. The pair of goals coming from unlikely players was much needed after One Knox leading scorer Denis Krioutchenkov was shown a second yellow card a minute into first half stoppage time.

The sending off made for a wide open second half as both teams played a man down with Fort Wayne’s Javier Armas shown a straight red for a retaliation on Kriotuchenkov’s first yellow card less than a minute into the match.

“We didn’t expect that and it’s something you’re not training for, so it throws everything until a loop for a little bit,” Fuller said of the early red card. “It’s natural to slow things down and let the game come to you when you’re man up, but the reality is that you have to make the game come to you. I thought we did a little bit better job in the second half, unfortunately we were at even numbers at that point.”

Following the topsy-turvy first 45 minutes, McLeod wasted little time in the second half to open the scoring, out jumping a scrum in the box to head home a Teddy Baker corner in the 47th minute. It was the Jamaican defender’s first goal of the season.

“I was really pleased for Scott,” Fuller noted. “He hasn’t played a lot for us, but he stepped in and did very well. So pleased that we finally scored on a set piece. We put the goalkeeper under a lot of pressure and got a very good goal.”

After Fort Wayne FC’s Kabiru Gafar equalized in the 73rd minute, the corner would once again be kind to Knoxville just eight minutes later.

From the same side of the field as McLeod’s earlier goal, Baker whipped a ball in towards the back post that was headed away by Fort Wayne. However, the ball fell towards Caputo at the top of the box and the midfielder met it with his right foot before it could hit the ground.

“I had a chance earlier from that spot and wasn’t able to do anything with,” Caputo recalled. “So before that one, I told myself that if it comes to me again, I’m just shooting.”

The driven volley took a glance off of the back of Fort Wayne’s Taig Healy and dipped into goal over the flailing right hand of goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann.

“I said before that, that every ball that comes out of the box in that situation that you play it back to the kicker, but then Abel goes and does that,” laughed Fuller. “I’m surprised that’s his first goal for us, because he’s hit the bar, he’s hit the post so many times. He’s got such good technique and it’s a big one and we’ll all remember this one.”

In addition to it being Caputo’s first time finding the back of the net for One Knox, it was also just his second goal in his seventh season as a professional, having last scored former USL1 side Fort Lauderdale CF back in 2021, but it was more than worth the wait.

“All I could think was ‘finally’,” an exasperated Caputo said. “I don’t usually get that many chances, but I was glad I was able to get that one and help the team win. That’s all I’m here to do.”

NEXT UP
One Knoxville SC will look to keep its place atop the league standings and maintain the momentum at home as it looks to cap off a six-point week when it welcomes AV Alta FC on Saturday. Kickoff from Covenant Health Park is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (tickets).