Four things to know about One Knoxville SC ahead of USL League Two playoffs
One Knoxville SC begins its pursuit of the USL League Two national championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Texas United in a first-round clash at West High School.
USL League Two is a national amateur soccer league of 113 teams, 32 of which qualified for the playoffs. Knoxville was chosen as one of eight regional hosts.
One Knox (11-2-1) finished the regular season with the best record in the USL League 2 South Central Division.
Here are a few things to know about the match ahead of kickoff.
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Scouting opponents
Before One Knox can start fantasizing about a deep playoff run or championship, it has to do something no one has been able to this season: defeat Texas United.
Based in Grand Prairie, Texas United is one of just four unbeaten teams in League Two. They won nine games and drew the other five in the regular season, clinching a playoff spot as champions of the Mid South Division.
Coincidentally, the last team to defeat Texas United was the Des Moines Menace in the 2021 League Two Playoffs, a team which was led by current One Knox coach Mark McKeever.
Texas United’s top scorer is Emil Jaaskelainen with seven goals. He is rated as the 13th best prospect in League Two. Jaaskelainen’s four assists are also tied for the team lead.
In the early game Friday scheduled for 4:30 p.m., Nona FC will meet West Virginia United.
Nona, from Orlando, Florida, won the Southeast Division with a record of 12-1-1. West Virginia United, based in Charleston, finished second in the South Atlantic Division behind North Carolina Fusion U23.
Top scorers
One Knox scored 34 goals in 14 matches, including a 7-1 thrashing of Southern Soccer Academy on July 9.
Nearly half of those 34 goals were scored by the duo of Stephen Afrifa and Sebastian Andreassen with eight and seven goals, respectively.
Afrifa, a native of Toronto who plays college soccer at Florida International University, scored his first goal for One Knox in a 1-0 win at Tennessee SC on May 21. He scored twice in a 3-1 win over South Carolina United FC on June 11.
Andreassen, a towering 6-foot-4 striker from Norway, scored his first goal in the club’s first win, a 1-0 victory over Tri-Cities Otters on May 17. He went on to have a career performance on May 28, scoring all four goals in a 4-1 win over Dalton Red Wolves.
Prospects in defense
While Afrifa and Andreassen knocked in goals, the One Knox defense was one of the best in League Two.
The team has conceded just 10 goals, tied for third-best in the league. Two important pieces of the solid backline are Moses Mensah and Finn McRobb, each a top-50 prospect in League Two.
Mensah, a 6-2 left-back from Ghana, is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the league. He plays for Campbell University, where he named the All-Big South Conference three times in as many seasons.
Standing at 6-3 from Glasgow, Scotland, McRobb is ranked No. 13 on the prospect list. He plays at High Point University and spent his youth academy career at Celtic FC, one of the giants of Scottish soccer.
Tickets
Tickets are being sold for individual games at $16 apiece at oneknoxsc.com. Prices will climb to $20 at the gate.
There is also the option of a weekend pass, which comes with access to both Friday matches and the regional final on Sunday for $30.
Alberto Camargo is a sports intern with the Knoxville-News Sentinel. Contact him at acamargo@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @albaretoe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Four things to know about One Knox SC ahead of USL League Two playoffs
