GAME RECAP: One Knoxville 3-0 Peachtree City MOBA
A wonder goal from Zyan Andrade and second-half strikes from Sebastian Andreassen and Stephen Afrifa make the difference.
These aren’t normal standards.
For many soccer teams, regardless of whether they play in the English Premier League or the USL League Two, a three-goal victory at home in front of raucous support is enough. Not for One Knoxville. Not for Mark McKeever and his staff.
It didn’t matter that Zyan Andrade, the Brazilian attacking midfielder who scored the deciding goal in a 3-2 comeback victory away to South Georgia Tormenta FC II on May 30—the first of four games away before returning to play at Maryville College—scored a spectacular, long-range goal in the 18th minute. Or that Sebastian Andreassen and Stephen Afrifa, on as substitutes in the second half, added two others: Andreassen on a towering header off a cross from Alex Abril in the 70th minute and Afrifa on a close-range finish in the 77th, assisted by club captain James Thomas.
There were unforced errors and turnovers, a lack of energy that might have cost One Knoxville (7-1-1) against a more dangerous opponent, like the one they’ll face next Tuesday: table-topping Asheville City (7-0-2), undefeated so far this season. The neighbors from the other side of the mountain hold a 2-1 advantage in the Smoky Mountain Series after spoiling One Knoxville’s home debut last month at Austin-East High School.
On paper, the result was predictable. That’s the only reason a 3-nil victory—what literally qualifies as a goleada (a blowout) in South American soccer—might seem unspectacular. Peachtree are the bottom team in the South Central Division. Entering the game, they had lost four straight, scoring just twice: in a 3-2 defeat at home to East Atlanta FC on Tuesday. Asheville City put six past Peachtree on their own turf when they met two weeks ago.
On the other hand, One Knoxville (7-1-1), playing at Maryville College—their third home venue this season after earlier games at Austin-East and Knoxville Catholic high schools—were ascendant. On a two-week road stretch, McKeever’s men took 10 points from 12. That included the win at Tormenta, the 2019 South Central Division and Southern Conference champions, and a 3-1 victory over the South Carolina United Bantams, last year’s division champs. In four of their last five games before Saturday, One Knoxville had scored at least three goals. Then they dropped three more on Peachtree.
One positive: goalkeeper Ryan Troutman, who hadn’t played since the win away to Tormenta on May 30, was unflinching between the sticks. He was called into action three times: a close-range foot save from Alejandro Lopez in the 37th minute, a punch away from a Roman Stallings’ shot in the 69th minute after Alberto Suarez mishandled a ball and left the attacker dribbling unchallenged toward goal, and a diving save to his left from another Lopez blast seven minutes from time.
Just a minute after that second save, came another high note. Abril was released on the right. His looping cross mirrored those Cameron Vickers (against Dalton at home) and Max McNulty (away at Bantams) had sent into Andreassen. The result was the same. In that six-yard box—the Seba Zone—the Scandinavian #9 is unstoppable. After scoring his seventh goal of the season, Andreassen, who’d likely win the award for Fan’s Player of the Season if it was voted on this very moment, ran to the corner flag to celebrate. With his parents in from Norway and two-thousand Knoxville faithful in attendance, he power-slid through the grass on both knees (it’s likely he would’ve done the same if it had been turf or gravel or lava) shouting in pure jubilation as the blue smoke erupted from The Scruffs section of supporters and his teammates rushed to embrace him.
Not to be outdone, Stephen “Wonder Boy” Afrifa, whose limbs seem to be made of a material stretchier than bone, scored his fifth of the season off a terrific waist-high cross from Thomas. The Canadian took it down delicately, spun around like a ballroom dancer, then slotted a hard shot to the near post with his left foot.
Despite the inefficiency and passivity McKeever called out in his post-game speech to the players, One Knoxville remains a team built for a run at the national title. Andrade, Andreassen, Thomas, Seth Antwi, and Suarez played in the Des Moines Menace team, coached by McKeever and Dean Grey, that won USL League Two championship in 2021. So were two others who did not dress for the Peachtree City game: Moses Mensah and Finn McRobb, both recently named among the league’s Top 20 prospects out of 4,157 active players. The squad is large: 37 players are officially listed in the roster on the league’s website. With more than two options in every position, heavy rotation is to be expected between games. Against Asheville, it’s possible the Bash Brothers, Andreassen and McNulty, return to the attack together. Swede Buster Sjoberg could return to the backline and Amferny Arias Sinclair, another MLS prospect, into a holding midfield role.
All that is certain is that, if every match is a Cup Final, as McKeever says, then the Tuesday visit to Asheville (which is actually being played for a trophy) is the biggest of them all, potentially deciding the South Central champion with four games left to play. But, as One Knoxville’s coaching will remind you, this is football. And, in football, anything is possible.
Patty and I will release a podcast episode again with our CAR TAKE from recorded in his ‘subio’ just after the Peachtree City game ended, to complement this recap.
Deano’s Take
The assistant coach on the performance of the team
“The objectives were met: we've won and had a clean sheet. Performance? Not so much. If you can get the result and get the objectives met, that's what we wanted out of this in the end. But it was probably one of the worst performances we've had. So it's what we do now and how we bounce back.”
“The two major factors were the unforced errors. First, having the ball and playing it to the opponent without pressure. The second thing was the energy on and off the ball. If you're not willing to cover the ground, then you're going to put yourself at a disadvantage. And anytime you do that, you give the opponents hope. And anytime you give opponents hope, then obviously it hurts the team.”
On preparing for Tuesday’s trip to Asheville
It's all down to assessing what's going on tomorrow. See how the body is. See who's available. Obviously, it's a quick turnaround. There’s going to be changes guaranteed. We’ve still got players coming back from injury. There's a lot of talk and a lot of thinking. Like I’ve said to you, we sit down in the in the house and we put seven different teams out that can potentially win the game. We just got to find the right formula. The quality's there, but we need to make sure the on and the off the ball are at the highest level against Asheville. So we're gonna prepare the best way we know how. And hopefully we can turn up the goods.
On player rotation in a big squad and newer faces like Lukas Sunesson, Heath Martin, and Yannick Kranz
We have a lot of quality. You're not going to have the chance to go for a game and not provide the goods when you've got quality behind you, pushing you. But that's why we brought them in, because of the quality. We know what they can provide. They're going to be in their college seasons when they're playing consistently. Now they're in an environment where you don't get it done then the opportunity might slip away. The one person who really stood out today was big Yannick. He's had back-to-back games where we've said he's had Man of the Match performances. He's been fantastic off the ball and hopefully that can continue.”
On Sebastian Andreassen and Stephen Afrifa as super subs, and the contribution of players off the bench
“Big players in big moments. Fantastic with the goals, and that's what we're looking for. That's why we have the depth that we have. With what they provided coming on, there's still question marks off the ball. If you're coming in fresh, you're expected to have all the energy. You have the tank, so you need to empty it. So we still have questions with that. But, big moments, they're ready for it. And that's why you have the Sebas and Stephens that are constitently scoring. It's good. We need it to be better.”
Zyan Andrade
On his potential Goal of the Week candidate in the first half
“Mitch played me in off the throw in. I saw the guy didn’t step on me, so I had time to turn. And I took it first touch and was gonna strike on the other side. I saw the guy backing up, so I took another touch and then I was looking for that far corner. It was a great strike. It was a great sensation in front of all the fans. It was definitely up there [among the best goals I’ve scored]. I’m definitely gonna watch it a thousand times when I get home.”
On switching between an attacking midfield (#10) and deep-lying playmaker position
“Being up top what Mark’s asked of me is finding the pocket and getting that ball from the center-back or the 6’s and turning, being creative. When I go into a more deep position as a 6, it’s more about getting the ball from the center-back and creating. And usually I have a guy like an Amferny right next to me, or a Seth, and those guys are energy all over. They’re the other half. We complement each other.”
On whether the squad has the makings of a championship team
We have the players. We have the coaching staff. We have the fans. We have the atmosphere. We have everything we need to be the top team in the nation. All we need is to have the players performing. We need energy. We need togetherness. We have the 18 that were here today. And then we have the guys in the stands that are just as good as anyone on the field. So it’s just awesome to be in that competitive environment every day with the guys on any of the surfaces, grass or turf. Everyone is just quality.”
Ryan Troutman
On getting his first start since the May 28 game against Dalton
“I've been out for about a week with a little groin tweak. And, you know, just sitting in training every day watching the guys kick around and you’re just off the side—even though it's a week, it still sucks. But last night I felt like a kid before Christmas, just itching to get back out after it.”
On what goes on in his head when he’s about to make a big save
“I think at this point in my career, it's just instinctual. We go through it: Nicky [goalkeepers coach Nick Jaramillo] and Chandler, Wyatt, Swinks. We create a great training environment. So we see all kinds of things like this throughout the week, so you’re ready for matchday. At this point, it's just like routine: you just make the save and not much thinking goes into it.”
On the competition between the goalkeepers
“It's fantastic. We’ve got a great relationship, all of us. It’s nice to have that support group because we're all pushing for each other. We push each other throughout the week. And when they make the decision, you have to respect it because we're all good goalkeepers. If Peter’s in goal, I'm his biggest fan; I want him to get a shutout, get three points. When I'm in goal, Peter wants the same for me, he wants the best. It’s good that we have that understanding, that mutual respect for each other. It’s just a great environment to be a part of.”
On the One Knoxville fans showing up to support soccer in East Tennessee
“It’s phenomenal. It’s hard to beat this for a USL 2 environment especially. You don’t see this anywhere in the country. I think this rivals some pro teams as well. The support coming out, the community behind us, little kids out at the game. It’s special. You can’t beat it.”
Sebastian Andreassen
On what he was thinking when Alex Abril sent in that cross
“First I think, ‘Get my ass in the box.’ Get myself in the box and see where the ball lands and just go fight for it. Go get it. That’s the mentality: get some space and go get the ball, then get on the end of it and hopefully it goes to the back of the net.”
On his mentality coming off the bench
The first objective when I come on the field is to make sure we win the game. That's always the first objective. The second objective would be to score a goal. Doing whatever I need to do to help the team win is what I want to do. And if that's coming off the bench or starting, I'll do whatever I can to help the team.”
On the difference between him and fellow Norwegian #9 and new Manchester City signing Erling Haaland
“He's much, much, much better than me in football. That’s the truth. And then a lot of money.”
On his parents arriving from Norway to see him play against Peachtree, Asheville (6/21), and Southern Soccer Academy (6/25), and what the Andreassen family will talk about before the critical match away to the division leaders
“It’s truly just best feeling in the world that my mom and dad can be here. I don't see them a lot. I usually see them just once a year. And I'm so happy also I get to score in front of them. So that's a really really good feeling.”
“When it comes to Asheville, the family Andreassen talk is that if you lose, you're a loser. That's all that matters in my family. You win. That's all that matters. I've been competing with my dad since I could barely walk and he would never ever let me win anything. If we played soccer together he would crushed me 20-0. He was never gonna let me win since day one. It's all about winning; that's the mentality.”
Watch the full match on YouTube