Diene’s Late Header Shocks Sarasota

USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 19	1ST HALF	2ND HALF	FINAL
SARASOTA PARADISE (5-11-3 | 18 PTS)	0	1	1
ONE KNOXVILLE SC (11-5-3 | 36 PTS)	0	2	2

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – While a match in August may not quite be the time to enter “must-win” territory, One Knoxville SC stepped on the pitch at Covenant Health Park, knowing that it needed to stop the skid. Having dropped its last three matches, it was gut-check time for the home side and it had to dig extra deep on Saturday night.

What the squad found in the end was an extra gear, and three points, courtesy of a stoppage-time winner from Babacar Diene to claim a 2-1 win over the Sarasota Paradise.

“Everybody needs to get the credit for this win, because we all worked so hard all week,” an elated Diene said afterwards. “To get this win with the goal at the end, I’m so happy. It feels incredible.”

Diene’s stunner capped off an eventful second half that began with Eli Conway opening the scoring for One Knox with his first professional goal.

With its first victory since July 15, Knoxville pushes its points total to 36 to get things back on track and remain in the top four of the USL League One table. It also sweeps the season series with Sarasota, having posted an identical scoreline in Florida.

But while the result was the same as it was back in April, the journey to it was wildly different this time around.

“Not the way we drew it up at all, but I’m really pleased for the guys,” Head Coach Ian Fuller said. “They put so much effort into it this week, let alone tonight. We have a lot to clean up, but it shows great character to not give up and not give in, to get a late winner.

“They were rewarded for how much they fought.”

The fight that Fuller saw on the training pitch carried over to the stadium in a big way, with the sequence leading to Diene’s goal beginning with a clearance off the line on the other end by defender Will Perkins. From there, Dani Fernandez quickly switched the field with a clearance on the other end, and the ball eventually made it out to Nico Rosamilia on the right wing.

As time wound down to the fifth of six added minutes, the Knoxville midfielder crossed the ball in front of goal where Diene was able to get in front of his defender and head it past Sarasota goalkeeper Alex Sutton as the stadium erupted.

“Just head the ball” Diene recalled of his thoughts in the moment he saw the ball coming towards him. “I just wanted to time my movement and head it on goal, thankfully it went in.

“That’s why we love the game. Sometimes you miss some, sometimes you score some. We are trying everything we can to help the team whenever we have the opportunity, whether it’s score a goal or get an assist, it’s all about helping the team.”

It was Diene’s fourth goal across all competitions in 2026 and his first since June 13.

“Just so happy for Baba,” said Fuller. “He has been knocking on the door for a while now, so it was good for him to get that one in the fashion that he did.”

The winner from Diene capped off a frenzied final stanza of the match that saw One Knox goalkeeper Johan Garibay deny a penalty attempt from Sarasota’s Aaron Walker in the 82nd minute, only for Walker to provide an assist on a goal from Reid Valentine two minutes later to tie the game at one goal apiece.

“Jo came up big for us when we needed him,” Fuller said of Garibay, who dove to his right to parry away the Walker’s shot from the spot. “I was really disappointed in our reaction immediately after that where we kept dropping deeper and deeper to give them more chances after it.”

Following an opening 45 minutes that saw both teams finding freedom in the final third but without a goal to show for it, Conway wasted little time in the second half to open his account.

It began with Babacar Diene playing a ball that sprung Teddy Baker free down the right side, and the Knoxville 2026 assist leader played a ball across the face of goal with Conway making a late run to knock it home at the back post for the 1-0 advantage.

“We’ve been working on that on training this week, just getting to those dangerous positions,” explained Conway, who earned his fourth start in league play this season. “As a winger, my job is to get to the back post. It’s a long run, but I got there and just buried it. It’s great (to get the first goal). I’ve been patient, but I knew it was going to come eventually.”

Knoxville finished the outing with eight of its 14 shots on target and a narrow 51.5% advantage in overall possession. Both teams were each awarded one yellow card with Sarasota’s Anderson Rosa going into the books in the 78th minute and Knoxville’s Abel Caputo in the 81st.

Defender Scott McLeod entered the match at halftime for Jaheim Brown, but had to come off in the 70th minute for Fernandez due to an apparent lower-body injury.

NEXT UP
One Knoxville SC now heads back on the road as it travels to face Greenville Triumph SC on Saturday, August 15. Kickoff from GE Verona Park is set for 7:00 p.m. ET. It will be a short road stint as the club returns home the following week to host Portland Hearts of Pine on Wednesday, August 19 (tickets) and AC Boise on Saturday, August 22 (tickets).