U.S. Open Cup Round One Recap: Appalachian FC 0 One Knoxville 3
The 2025 edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup kicked off earlier this week. Last night, Appalachian FC hosted USL 1 side One Knoxville in Boone. March is the month of upsets, however there was no upset in this match as One Knoxville left Boone with a 3-0 win as they advance to the next round of the tournament.
It didn’t take long for the action to arrive in the match as Knoxville were shown two yellow cards in the 13th minute after a pair of fouls from Nicola Rosamilia and Stavros Zarokostas. It wasn’t long after that we had the first goal of the match as Leo Santos found the back of the net in the 16th minute to put Knoxville up by one. Both teams found chances as the first half progressed. Knoxville missed a chance in the 44th minute and after the official announced three minutes of added time, Appalachian FC was threatening. Harri Rowe missed a header in the third minute of added time that would have put the score even heading into the break. Instead, the first 45 ended 1-0 in favor of Knoxville.
As the second half started, Zarokostas attempted to add his name into the scoring column with a shot in the 49th minute, however some great defense by Appalachian FC resulted in a blocked shot. Knoxville would add another goal in the 63rd minute on a free kick from Babacar Diene. The Appalachian FC offense found a chance shortly after conceding as Vincent Montoya had his shot attempt blocked in the 67th minute. Knoxville would find the back of the net again in the 74th minute as Scott McLeod would increase the lead to three with an assist from Diene. As the final whistle blew, the scoreboard read 3-0 in the favor of Knoxville.
Throughout the match, Knoxville controlled the possession, ending the match with 63% of possession to 37% for Appalachian FC. Shots were pretty even with Knoxville finishing with nine to Appalachian FC’s eight. Both teams were not shy about playing physical as 31 fouls were called, 16 for Appalachian FC and 15 for Knoxville.
Despite the loss, Appalachian FC looks to the NPSL Southeast Conference season, with their first match taking place Saturday May 10th as Port City FC travels to Boone for a 7:00 pm kickoff at the Ted Mack Soccer Complex.