New York Cosmos Fall 3-0 to Clinical One Knoxville SC
October 17, 2026 Hinchliffe Stadium Paterson, NJ
One Knoxville SC will enter the 2026 USL League One Playoffs riding some momentum as they wrapped up their regular season with a 3–0 victory over the New York Cosmos. The Cosmos recorded their third consecutive loss and are now in peril of ending the season at the bottom of the table with only two matches remaining.
While the match was crucial for Knoxville as it guaranteed them a 6th place finish, it also served as a homecoming for several One Knox players with deep roots in the New Jersey soccer landscape. Stepping onto the pitch in Paterson, just miles away from where many of them grew up playing club and academy soccer, the return to the Garden State provided an added incentive to some of the players.
For the Cosmos, the match served as an opportunity for the team to recover from two disappointing away performances. It also offered a chance for two players who hadn't played much recently: Will Noecker, stepping in at central defense for the injured Anderson Holt, and Nick Mendonca, returning to the starting lineup in midfield.
It didn't take long for the visitors to make their presence felt, striking fast to silence the home crowd. Knoxville broke the deadlock six minutes into the contest when Denis Krioutchenkov recorded his 11th goal of the season. Former Rutgers standout Nicola Rosamilia found the Israeli striker in the box, assisting on the opening goal. The Cosmos struggled to generate dangerous chances against a solid One Knox midfield led by the Scotch Plains, New Jersey native and former Red Bulls II player John Murphy. Both sides would not create any danger the rest of the first half, and the visitors would take the 1-0 lead into the break.
The second half would start with One Knox conceding the ball to Cosmos but with Cosmos unable to generate any real danger. Frankie Ljucovic would show fight in a match where the overall Cosmos play was once again disjointed. Despite not being able to generate any offense, the fact that Davide Corti made his first substitution of the match in the 72nd minute, and that being a defensive substitution with Stalyn Acosta entering the match in place of Michael Chilaka, spoke volumes of what the Cosmos boss thought of the team's offensive options on the bench. Soon after, the visitors effectively put the game out of reach deep into the second half due to a defensive breakdown. In the 73rd minute, a costly error by the Cosmos goalkeeper gifted One Knoxville a golden opportunity, pressure from Krioutchenkov on a pass back to Cosmos goalkeeper Javier Garcia forced an errant clearance right to Eli Conway at the top of the box. This allowed the rookie winger to pounce on the mistake and calmly slot the ball into the net to make it 2–0. The goal prompted a massive celebration as the Mount Olive, New Jersey native, Conway ran straight to his father and brothers in the stands to celebrate his homecoming goal. With the match pretty much in hand for One Knox, Cosmos would bring in Nick Zielonka in the 82nd minute in place of a neutralized Lamin Jawneh.
Knoxville would put the final exclamation point on the match following an 89th-minute red card issued to New York’s Justin Milovanov. Deep into stoppage time (90+4'), Babacar Diene played a terrific give-and-go with Mikkel Gøling, springing past the shorthanded Cosmos backline. Diene, who played college soccer at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, would slot the ball in for the final goal of the match and wrap up the 3-0 shutout victory.
For a second straight match, Cosmos would record zero shots on goal. With another poor result, it is evident that the Cosmos need to make numerous changes to the squad in order for them to be a competitive team in 2027.
After the Richmond Kickers' 5-1 win against Corpus Christi, the Cosmos have fallen to the bottom of the table with 25 points from 30 matches, while Richmond has 26 points from 31 matches. Greenville Triumph has accumulated 27 points from 31 matches and will conclude the season against Richmond. Meanwhile, the Cosmos will play two challenging home games to wrap up their season. Securing just one win in these two matches would prevent them from finishing in last place. Given the Cosmos' storied history, it should be expected that the players will work to avoid ending up at the bottom of the table.
New York Cosmos 0 - 3 One Knoxville SC
GOALS
KNX: Krioutchenkov 6′; Conway 73′; Diene 90+4′
LINEUPS
NYC: Garcia, Noecker, Chavez, Chilaka (Acosta 72′), Milovanov, Ramos, Mendonca, Ljucovic, Jawneh (Zielonka 82′), Guenzatti
KNX: Garibay, Perkins, Skelton, McRobb, Tiao (Fernandez 81′), Caputo, Murphy Jr., Gøling, Rosamilia (Conway 71′), Zarokostas (Linhares 65′), Krioutchenkov (Diene 81′)
DISCIPLINE
KNX: Zarokostas (Yellow) 64′; Rosamilia (Yellow) 67′; Conway (Yellow) 82′
NYC: Milovanov (Yellow) 23′, (Red) 89′; Mendonca (Yellow) 44′; Chavez (Yellow) 79′
Match Statistics:
Possession: (KNX) 42% (NYC) 58%
Total Passes: (KNX) 258 (NYC) 408
Total Shots: (KNX) 14 (NYC) 5
Shots on Goal: (KNX) 6 (NYC) 0
Saves: (KNX) 0 (NYC) 3
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