25 June 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
One Knoxville SC Press Release
Two players went down and failed to capitalize in the second half, sending One Knoxville SC down 2-0 against first-place Greenville Triumph SC.
Knox coach Mark McKeever emphasized why there are problems converting opportunities into more points.
“A lot of injuries can take away the cohesion. Now, hopefully, with the players starting to come back, we can get some cohesion. There’s consistency,” he said.
Greenville had 57% ball possession and One Knox had 43% overall possession. Both teams had a total of 15 shots, 10 of which were inside One Knox’s box.
The first half was an even competition between both teams. Both started with a high level of intensity and created opportunities.
In the 27th minute of the first half, Greenville player Daniel Wu received a cross from Ben Zakowski. He passed to Lyam MacKinnon, who fired the ball from outside the box, where One Knox goalkeeper Sean Lewis punched it into the bottom left corner before it was finally cleared.
In extra time, OneKnox player Stuart Ritchie crossed, and Kempes Tekiela headed the shot from the center of the box, but it went wide to the right.
One Knox had a total of 6 shots and Greenville had 3 but none made a hit and the first half ended 0-0.
In the second half, Greenville began to take control of the game.
In the 48th minute, MacKinnon crossed the ball and Leonardo Castro fired a shot from the center of the penalty box to take the lead 1-0.
One Knox still attempted to capitalize on their opportunities in the final third.
In the 60th minute, Ritchie dribbled and passed to Kingsford Ajay in the center, and fired a shot from outside the penalty box, but it went just over the goal.
Wonnox scored in the 72nd minute.
Lewis received a red card after engaging in a one-on-one confrontation with a Greenville player. When Lewis slipped and reached for the ball, his hand crossed the penalty area, leading to a handball. Due to having to leave the game, goalkeeper Johan Garibai replaced another player, James Thomas, leaving One Knox with 10 players.
Another hit in the 87th minute left One Knox with nine men after Sean O’Hearn was booked for a second foul for a bad foul and the game ended.
This is the third time One Knox has had 10 players, and the first time they have had only nine. Angelo-Kelly spoke about dealing with being two men short on the pitch.
“We still have to take risks, we have to tie the game. At that point, unfortunately we got another red card, but that’s part of the game,” he said.
With One Knox on defense, Greenville took advantage of having more players and scored another goal in overtime.
Zakowski hit it for MacKinnon, who broke away and fired the ball into the bottom right corner.
The game ended 2-0.
McKeever spoke highly of Greenville after the game.
“We have an example of a team that has the cohesion and consistency, a club that has a history and can attract talent through that. We are growing and getting better. We are getting stronger and stronger and going forward and hopefully we can be where they are in the near future,” he said.
In the current rankings, One Knox is ranked 5th and Greenville is ranked 1st.
The next home game is against Forward Madison FC on Saturday, June 29th at 7:30pm at Regal Soccer Stadium. Kick off the 4th of July with fireworks right after the game!
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