Two USL teams playing in extra time at altitude in front of small crowd past 11 p.m. ET. Even the Sickos Committee gets it. Wednesday night saw a flurry of action in the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup including defending USL Championship champs Colorado Springs Switchbacks hosting USL League One side One Knoxville and coming away with a 3-2 extra time win.
Anthony Fontana was at the heart of the drama after coming on as a second half substitute for the Switchbacks. He assisted on a go-ahead goal in the 82nd minute only to see One Knoxville equalize two minutes later. In extra time, Fontana scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the 104th minute to send the Switchbacks to the Fourth Round where they will face a team from Major League Soccer.
The win also snapped Colorado Springs’ four-game losing streak in the competition dating back to 2019.
The visitors from Tennessee got off to a perfect start. Two minutes in, center back Jeim Brown delivered a dime to striker Babacar Diene. The Senegalese striker chested the ball down then picked out the far bottom corner to beat goalkeeper Christian Herrera.
After that, the first half was all Colorado Springs. They had 65% possession in the first half with five shots, but just two on goal. It was a lot of purposeless possession. The Knoxville low block held its own. The best chances came in the 38th minute, both from midfielder Quenzi Huerman. First he got space at the top of the box and uncorked a shot that was parried away by Johan Garibay. Two minutes later, he took a free kick from the side of the box right on goal.
The half ended 1-0 with Stavros Zarokostas subbing on for an injured Kimarni Smith at winger. Twice early in the half the lights went out at Weidner Field. Full power was restored within the minute. The scoreboard was fine and play was not stopped.
“I rarely go ballistic at halftime. I didn’t. We were in complete control of the game but we didn’t test them enough. We had final third entries but there’s a big white thing at the end of the field you have to put the ball into. We come out and we have five shots on target in the first seven minutes (of the second half),” a cheeky coach James Chambers said.
If Knoxville owned the start of the first half, Switchbacks owned the start of the second. In the 49th minute, Steven Echevarria made it 1-1. A Switchbacks corner got knocked down. The midfielder spun around like a top and roofed the loose ball at the near post.
The match woke up after that. One Knox possessed the ball and tried to build out of the back. The Switchbacks pressing picked up in response. Substitutes Marco Micaletto and Anthony Fontana combined to make it 2-1 in the 82nd. Micaletto dribbled through the defense and played a one-two before finishing.
Knoxville responded immediately however. Zarokostas had a loose ball off a cross fall to him inside the six yard box, smashing it home. The match headed to extra time tied 2-2 after 90, with the Switchbacks shouting for a handball in stoppage time that was not given.
Stoppage time was a game of moments between both sides playing it safe. Callum Johnson had the best looks for Knox. He ran down a long ball in the first half with a near breakaway, but shot wide. He had a free kick later that went into the wall.
This match was waiting for an impact sub. That came in the 104th minute with Yosuke Hanya, who dribbled and cut inside to find Fontana in a pocket of space in front of goal. Fontana rocketed the ball off the crossbar and in!
Up 3-2, the Black and Blue went defensive, getting several open looks on the counter attack. The substitute goal scorer Zarokostas received a second yellow for a tactical foul on Hanya, virtually putting the game away in the 129th. The visitors went out huffing and puffing with the match ending 3-2 after 120 minutes.
“Marco with a goal. Me with a goal. I’m happy that I’m able to keep doing that. I saw Yos on the ball. Anytime he’s on the ball, something can be created. He found me. Just happy to put it in the net,” Fontana said with relief.
With that, Switchbacks have gotten their first USOC win since 2021. Echevarria feels this is a performance and result to build on for league and cup play:
“We said at the beginning of this year it’s something we wanted to take seriously. It took everyone on the bench. Great team performance. Anthony is class on the ball. He’s fit right in. We’ll take this into our next game on Saturday. We’re better off now than we were last year. We were 0-5 and we figured it out. I’m confident in this group.”