Diene’s Answer Sees One Knox Draw with Portland

USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 21	1ST HALF	2ND HALF	FINAL
PORTLAND HEARTS OF PINE (5-9-7 | 22 PTS)	0	1	1
ONE KNOXVILLE SC (11-5-5 | 38 PTS)	0	1	1

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For a second consecutive outing, One Knoxville SC found itself on the front foot, creating chance after chance. But also for the second consecutive outing, the squad needed a late goal to salvage a point.

This time, it was Babacar Diene providing the late heroics as One Knox draws, 1-1, with Portland Hearts of Pine on Wednesday night at Covenant Health Park. Still, it was a match where the home side felt it should have achieved all three points if it was a little more clinical in front of goal.

“Life is full of moments where you get an opportunity and you have to take it, and these are life lessons,” said Head Coach Ian Fuller as his squad now sits on 38 points in USL League One play. “We had a lot of situations where we should’ve taken the opportunity and we didn’t.'”

If there was to be a winner on the evening, it was more likely to be Knoxville as it found itself peppering Portland goalkeeper Hunter Morse from the onset. Finishing with 69.6% of possession and 9 of its 26 total shots on target with 45 touches in the opponent’s penalty area, it was a match that, in many ways, mirrored One Knox’s 1-1 draw with Greenville Triumph SC its last time out.

In addition to the seven saves from Morse, Knoxville twice hit the woodwork with forward Denis Krioutchenkov blasting one off the post in the 77th minute and Real Gill hitting the crossbar in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time.

“Overall I was really happy with the way we played in that our intensity was there,” Fuller said. “The guys are trying super hard to create (goal scoring) opportunities. But it’s in those moments where you need your heart beat to slow down a little bit. We’ll have to get that going. We have to keep the belief that things will turn around if we continue to do things right, which we have been over the last few matches.”

Portland’s only goal, and first of just two shots on target, came in the 57th minute, with Pedro Gonzalez shooting from midfield off a turnover, beating One Knoxville goalkeeper Johan Garibay off his line.

“It was a situation where we were comfortable with the ball but then we made one bad decision and we got stung,” recalled Fuller. “From there it was a long way back.”

Refusing to give in after the shocking turn of events, Knoxville’s consistent pressure finally materialized an equalizer in the 86th minute.

Winning its ninth corner of the evening, midfielder Teddy Baker whipped in a ball to the back post amidst a crowded box. However, Diene was able to rise amongst the fray and headed the ball down and on frame, finally beating Morse to tie the match at one apiece.

“You ask him and he’ll say he should’ve scored more,” Fuller said of Diene. “If there is one thing he and the rest of the team aren’t short of is their fight.”

It was Diene’s sixth goal across all competitions in 2026 and his second in three matches, following his late winner in front of the home fans against the Sarasota Paradise on August 8th. With an assist now in consecutive matches, Baker added to his team-high total in USL1 play with his sixth of the season.

After scoring the late equalizer against Greenville, Nico Rosamilia was awarded with his first start of the season. Working his way back to full fitness after an injury-plagued last few months, the midfielder played the entire first half before coming off for Real Gill.

Academy player Eli Cook made his third appearance of 2026, entering the match in the 83rd minute for Abel Caputo. It was the forward’s longest outing in a USL1 match this season.

Portland Head Coach Bobby Murphy received a yellow card in the 23rd minute for dissent.

NEXT UP
One Knoxville SC is now faced with a quick turnaround as it hosts AC Boise on Saturday (tickets) for a matchup pitting the fourth and fifth place teams in the USL1 standings, with the top four teams at the end of the season earning a home match for the first round of the playoffs.

Kickoff for the special Vols Night match is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from Covenant Health Park. Special guests include University of Tennessee mascot Smokey XII and the women’s soccer team, plus a celebrity penalty kick shootout at halftime with Volunteer legends Ron Slay, Erik Ainge, AJ Johnson and Dustin Colquitt.