| USL LEAGUE ONE MATCHDAY 4 | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| RICHMOND KICKERS (0-2-1 | 1 PTS) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ONE KNOXVILLE SC (2-1-1 | 7 PTS) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For much of the evening, it appeared as though One Knoxville SC was staring a second straight scoreless draw at home despite creating the lion’s share of the scoring chances. But amidst the Friday rain at Covenant Health Park, it was Denis Krioutchenkov who let out a lion’s roar following his 85th minute goal to secure a 1-0 victory over the Richmond Kickers.
“We finally broke through,” said a grinning Krioutchenkov afterwards. “It’s always great to score. As a forward, it’s your job. But that one was special because we kept creating chances and the more chances you create, the better chance that you will score.”
The rookie third goal of the young USL League One campaign notched One Knox’s seventh point as it secured its first home victory of 2026.
It was a moment that Head Coach Ian Fuller envisioned when he subbed on the forward in the second half in hopes of adding a little more bite to an attacking front that kept pushing for a winner through the bitter end.
“We were nearly scoring all night long,” noted Fuller. “I believe in this group in terms of the fight that they’ve been giving. I would be a lot more concerned if we weren’t creating chances against a very difficult team. I’m so pleased for Denis, he’s no longer an unknown commodity in this league.”
With memories of Tuesday’s draw against Corpus Christi still fresh in its mind, One Knox knew it had to keep the foot on the gas pedal with time ticking down in the second half. Already with 15 total shots and seven on target through the first 84 minutes of the match, Krioutchenkov made the next one count as he found an opening at the far post with Jaheim Brown picking him out with an inch-perfect cross.
The header from Israeli forward went back across the goal, past Richmond goalkeeper Yann Fillion, and nestled into the net as pandemonium across the stadium rang.
“It was a great ball from Jaheim,” Krioutchenkov recalled. “It just hung up in the air for me as I tried to get through the centerbacks. I couldn’t ask for a better ball and all I had to do was just put my head to it and find the finish.”
Krioutchenkov’s heroics were made possible by a One Knox defense that, for a second straight outing, kept its opponent off the scoreboard. Only this time, Johan Garibay had a little bit more work to do than his one save outing on Tuesday. While only two saves were recorded in the statistics, the One Knox goalkeeper came up big with a strong punch on a shot inside the box in the 14th minute, followed by a diving stop on a driven free kick in the 57th.
“We wanted to start a streak again of being impenetrable at home,” said Garibay. “All eleven guys took pride in not letting the ball get into our net. Our guys up top are really good at what they do, so I try not to really overthink it. My job is to keep the ball out of the net and trust my teammates.”
On top of the saves, Garibay commanded his box well, coming off his line on multiple occasions to catch a cross or provide a clearance en route to his second clean sheet in a week.
“We’ve been pushing Jo to be a little more aggressive and he’s shown that because he’s been fantastic,” Fuller said. “In front of him, I thought the back four were great and our midfielders did well in defender too. It was just a great team effort where we kept fighting and fighting.”
Looking to reinvigorate the squad, Fuller opted for a new-look starting lineup on Saturday that included midfielder Steven Cordova in his first start in USL1 play, as well as forward Braudilio Rodrigues, who was acquired on loan from USL Championship side Lexington SC earlier in the week.
Babacar Diene got the start up top and had two great scoring opportunities thwarted by Fillion. He finished the match with a team-high four shots, three of which were on target.
Eight yellow cards were shown throughout the match, with One Knox issued five.
> MATCH DETAILS
LINEUPS
RIC: Fillion – GK, Anderson (Aldana 81′), Vinberg, Layton, Murana, Amer (Howell 81′), Barnathan – C, Espinal (O’Malley 68′), Sasankah, Pannholzer (Moore 68′), Kirkland (Dourado 59′)
KNX: Garibay – GK, Perkins (Fernandez 45′), Skelton – C, McRobb, Brown, Baker (Caputo 82′), Gøling, Cordova (Murphy Jr. 66′), Conway (Krioutchenkov 58′), Rodrigues (Zarokostas 58′), Diene
GOALS
RIC:
KNX: Krioutchenkov 85′
DISCIPLINE
RIC: Pannholzer (Yellow) 26′; Kirkland (Yellow) 53′; Sasankah (Yellow) 89′
KNX: Diene (Yellow) 34′; Rodrigues (Yellow) 45′; Skelton (Yellow) 45+2′; Zarokostas (Yellow) 67′; Murphy Jr. (Yellow) 90+1′
NEXT UP
Riding high off the win, One Knoxville SC will take a short break from USL1 play as it resumes the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on Tuesday, March 31 for a second round tilt at USL League Two side Asheville City SC. The two sides will resume the Smoky Mountain Series with the winner potentially hosting a club from Major League Soccer in the third round.
Kickoff for that match is set for 7:00 p.m. ET from Asheville, North Carolina. One Knox then resumes USL1 play on April 4, when it travels to face the Sarasota Paradise.
