Sam Brummitt

The Round of 32 in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup produced three memorable “Cupsets” and a number of close matches. On April 14, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks of the USL Championship dominated the four-time Open Cup winners, Sporting Kansas City of MLS, with a commanding 3-0 win. That same night, another USL Championship side, Louisville City FC, defeated last year’s Open Cup runners-up, Austin FC, 2-1. 

The most thrilling of the Round of 32 Cupsets took place the following evening, when the USL League One side, One Knoxville SC, came from behind twice on the road against the three-time Open Cup winners, DC United, and won in a penalty shootout.  

The star of that match was the super sub, One Knox’s Denis Krioutchenkov, who scored within two minutes after coming into the game in the 77th minute to put his team ahead. He would later score a second goal deep into the second half of extra time to even the scoreline at 3-3 and send the game into penalties. 

By scoring a brace, and converting the first of his team’s six penalty kicks after extra time, Denis Krioutchenkov was selected as TheCup.us Player of the Round. The Player of the Round award is voted on by TheCup.us staff, a select panel from the North American Soccer Reporters and select backers (those that pledge $10 or more) from TheCup.us’ Patreon team.

Krioutchenkov took home the lion’s share of the voting, far outspacing second place Talles Magno of New York City FC (MLS) who scored the tournament’s first hat trick of the year in a 5-2 road win over Westchester SC (USL-1). Closely behind him in third place was Sadam Masereka of the Colorado Springs Switchbacks (USL-C) who had a goal and an assist in the team’s aforementioned upset of Sporting KC.

One Knox defeated Vistula Garfield and Asheville City SC earlier this spring to advance to the Third Round of the tournament for the first time in the club’s five-year history. After eliminating two lower division sides, One Knox found themselves in unknown territory, playing against an MLS team for the first time in the Round of 32.

One Knoxville had drawn even with DC United late in the 75th minute after Braudilio Rodrigues’ shot was parried by Alex Bono only for Babacar Diene to blast the rebound into the bottom left corner of the goal.  

Two minutes later, Krioutchenkov, the One Knox SC forward, subbed into the game just when his team needed a jolt of energy. One Knox was playing their fourth straight road game over a 15-day span, a stretch that started with their second round Open Cup game against Asheville City SC, which went into extra time and penalties. 

In the 78th minute, Krioutchenkov made a run between two defenders at the top of DC United’s box. The One Knox fullback, Jaheim Brown, sent a cross into the box, which deflected off a teammate and towards Krioutchenkov.  

Krioutchenkov got a high foot on the ball to direct it into the lower right corner. Within two minutes of stepping on to the field, Krioutchenkov carried his team further into unknown territory – the upstart USL-1 club now had a one goal advantage over a top division team. 

United would level the game with a goal by Nikola Marković in the 83rd minute and go ahead 3-2 with another goal by João Peglow in the first half of extra time (97th min.).  

Krioutchenkov silenced the home crowd late in extra time when Will Perkins found him with a cross in the 113th minute.

Speaking after the game, Krioutchenkov credited his teammates for the pinpoint crosses that led both of his two goals that night. 

“It’s not a game where it’s an individual. My first goal came from Jaheim crossing a wonderful ball. And then the second , Will was just playing me so I could finish it one time, which are extremely difficult balls to play but we make it look easy. So we just had belief in our players who are going to, you know, put us in the best possible position.”

Extra time ended with the score tied at 3-3. One Knoxville were no strangers to penalty kicks, however. Two weeks earlier they bested Asheville City SC by 3-2 in a penalty shootout behind three saves by goalkeeper, Jonathan Burke. 

Krioutchenkov topped off this performance by converting the first of One Knox’s six straight penalty kicks. He punched a hard shot from the spot into the lower left corner. After each side converted their first five penalty kicks, One Knox’s Jonathan Burke finally got his hands on DC United’s sixth penalty kick to keep it out of the net, setting up his team’s decisive sixth penalty kick, which Kyle Linhares converted to secure $50,000 in prize money as the last remaining third division club and send One Knoxville SC into the Round of 16. 

Krioutchenkov reflected on his team’s third round win after the game. 

“It was the first time history we’re playing an MLS team, so you never know how that’s going to go. After Kyle penalty went in, you just feel that burst of excitement… and you forget how tired you are and you just start running everywhere. That was a really cool way to end it.”

One Knoxville’s head coach, Ian Fuller, did not doubt that Krioutchenkov would find the net in critical moments late in the game. 

“Both center forwards scored tonight so I’m thrilled… That’s their job and if they’re not doing it, you know, it’s hard to find , so I’m thrilled for them. Denny getting two , I mean, the kid loves a goal, right? He worked his socks off.”

Both of Krioutchenkov’s goals against D.C. United came on well-timed runs to meet crosses in dangerous areas in front of the goal. His coach Ian Fuller talked after the game about how Krioutchenkov has focused on waiting for these type of scoring opportunities to materialize. 

‘One thing about is we’ve been talking about how important it is to hold the ball up because he doesn’t get his chances if he doesn’t hold the ball up and he was world class at that. It’s the little pieces that ended with the results of the goal that I’m really excited for him.”

After leading the University of Charlotte men’s soccer team in goals in the 2025 season, Krioutchenkov joined the USL League One champions over the winter. In his first season as a professional, the 6 foot 3 inch forward has made a splash in USL League One. Krioutchenkov has appeared in all ten of One Knox’s matches in all competitions so far this year, tallying five goals, one assist, and a league-leading 19 shots. The One Knox forward was selected for the Team of the Week in week one of the USL League One season after scoring two goals in the season opener against Westchester SC.  He ended the first month of the season with a game winning goal against the Richmond Kickers to earn the league’s March Player of the Month honor. 

One Knoxville SC will hit the road for the fourth straight time in the Open Cup when they take on the Columbus Crew on April 29 at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, OH.