One Knox Caps Off Regular Season with Big Win

USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 32	1ST HALF	2ND HALF	FINAL
ONE KNOXVILLE SC (15-8-9 | 54 PTS)	1	2	3
NEW YORK COSMOS (7-19-4 | 25 PTS)	0	0	0

PATERSON, NJ – One Knoxville SC will be riding some momentum once the 2026 USL League One Playoffs begin. The club concluded its regular season slate in dominant fashion on Saturday afternoon with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the New York Cosmos at Hinchliffe Stadium.

“We’ve been preaching all week how we were going to win this game and the guys performed extremely well tonight,” said Head Coach Ian Fuller. “To come up here, knowing it’s out last game, it was really a preparation game for the playoffs. If that’s a sign of what’s to come, it’s going to be a good run for us.”

As it now awaits its destination for the first round of the playoffs, One Knox finishes the season with 54 points on a 15-8-9 record, including an impressive eight-win mark away from Knoxville.

But while it may have been a road match, there was still some home-cooking for One Knox with all five of its New Jersey-natives seeing the pitch and contributing to the win in front of their local family and friends. That includes goals from Eli Conway, who grew up in Mount Olive, and Babacar Diene, who went to college at Rider University in Lawrenceville.

“We were definitely thankful that we were home and got to see our family, but the focus going into that game was getting three points,” explained Conway. “We went through with that plan and did a great job. I think our families being there helped with the result, but it was about staying with the plan and focusing throughout the week in training.”

The other Jersey connections include, defender Chris Tiao, midfielder John Murphy Jr. and forwards Kyle Linhares and Nico Rosamilia.

In fact, it was a Rosamilia assist five minutes into the match that got One Knox off and running, as he played a ball into Denis Krioutechenkov who hit it first-time with his left foot for the early goal.

“That set the tone for us,” Fuller said of the early goal. “It came in transition and it was just Denis doing what Denis does well.”

It was Krioutchenkov’s team-leading 11th goal in USL1 play and 14th across all competitions.

That ended being all the away side would need on the day with One Knox stifling the Cosmos attack. Anchored by the centerback duo of Jordan Skelton and Finn McRobb, the defense allowed just five total shots from New York – and none on target – and none on target despite the home side holding 57.7% of the possession.

“They were fantastic tonight,” Fuller pointed out. “It was vintage Jordan Skelton and Finn did a really good job playing next to him. And I thought our two fullbacks played extremely well.”

The 1-0 scoreline remained until the 73rd minute when the One Knox press caused catastrophe for the Cosmos. Pressure from Krioutchenkov on a pass back to Cosmos goalkeeper Javier Garcia forced an errant clearance right to Conway at the top of the box.

The rookie winger, who had just entered the match two minutes prior, took one touch to settle before driving the ball just inside the near post, doubling the lead.

“It was so awesome,” Conway recalled of running to his father and brothers into the stands after netting his fourth goal of his debut season. “It’s tough being away from home for so long, but then you get to see your family in the crowd supporting. So when I get an opportunity like that, I knew I had to run to them.”

With the result settled, Knoxville made the most of an 89th minute red card from New York’s Justin Milovanov, as Diene played a give-and-go with Mikkel Gøling that sprung the forward beyond the Cosmos back line and in on goal to make it 3-0.

Gøling, along with Murphy Jr. and Abel Caputo in the One Knox midfield triumvirate were challenged by Fuller to step up and control the flow of the match with the absence of Teddy Baker, who was unavailable for Saturday’s contest.

“They covered more ground than anyone,” Fuller said of the midfielders. “And they needed to because it’s a big field. They were dangerous in both boxes and showed their aggression.”

NEXT UP
While the regular season is finished for One Knox, the squad will have to wait a bit before it learns its first round opponent and location. Due to the scheduling, the rest of the teams in the league won’t play its final matches until next weekend. With the middle of the standings so compacted together, nothing will be officially settled until then.

“We’re just going to step away for a bit to get our minds right and our bodies right,” said Conway. “Once we get back to training, it’s all about focusing and preparing for this playoff run.”

To stay up to date on One Knoxville SC and the USL1 Playoffs, be sure to follow the club on X and Instagram. Scheduling information will be announced there once it becomes available, as well as on the club website.