Complete U.S. Open Cup Coverage

Appalachian FC

2025 US Open Cup Round 1: One Knoxville “tickled pink” with road win over Appalachian FC

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Graphic: Frank Lanham

A crisp mountain backdrop set the scene as NPSL side Appalachian FC and USL League One team One Knoxville met on the second night of the 2025 US Open Cup. The teams seemed equally matched, but goals from Leo Santos (16’), Babacar Diene (63’), and Scott McLeod (74’), as well as a clean sheet from Knoxville’s goalkeeper Johan Garibay ensured their place in the next round with a 3-0 victory.

The teams wasted no time showing their strength, but a corner kick given in the 15th minute to One Knoxville led to the sole goal of the first half. A right-footed strike by Santos found the back of the net, with a headed assist from Dani Fernandez.

When asked about the match, defender Dani Fernandez said it was tough with this being their second away game in a row.

“We just came from Seattle, and winning and having a clean sheet on the road is very special,” he said. Fernandez also credited Appalachian FC, saying that this was a very competitive match.

Coming into the second half, One Knoxville heavily rotated its squad, using all five substitutions to bring out fresh legs from the locker room. Even so, Appalachian made it clear that they weren’t giving up without a fight, pressing against the professional team when possible.

In the 63rd minute, Knoxville doubled the lead from a free kick taken by Diene. Chances continued to come for Appalachian, but the second goal was joined by a third just 11 minutes later, with Diene assisting McLeod’s strike in the 74th minute. Eventually, it was Appalachian substitute Jeremiah Luoma (one of the team’s returning players) with the biggest chance for ruining a clean sheet: a powerful header that sailed just over the crossbar in the 85th minute.

One Knoxville’s coach Ian Fuller cited the team’s travel earlier this week against Spokane Velocity FC and praised his club for its resilience.

“This isn’t an easy competition to win in – you saw it last night – teams in the higher divisions have lost, so it’s not easy to come on the road after our travel and the preparation,” Fuller said. “We were finally able to break through with three set piece goals and (we’re) tickled pink to have a shutout.

“But you have to give App FC a lot of credit. They fought really, really hard and made it really difficult on us. We’re happy to move on.”

What’s next for these teams? Appalachian FC’s NPSL season begins May 10 at home against Port City FC and One Knoxville will visit Texoma FC this Saturday. One Knoxville will continue its Open Cup journey in the next round on either April 1 or 2.

2023 US Open Cup Round 2: Charlotte Independence shutout Appalachian FC to snap USOC winless streak

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Khori Bennett of the Charlotte Independence scores a penalty kick against Appalachian FC in the 2023 US Open Cup. Photo: Charlotte Independence
Khori Bennett of the Charlotte Independence scores a penalty kick against Appalachian FC in the 2023 US Open Cup. Photo: Charlotte Independence

Miguel Ibarra provided the spark and Khori Bennett provided the early goal as Charlotte Independence comfortably defeated Appalachian FC in the Second Round of the 2023 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on Wednesday night.

Charlotte captain Clay Dimick made it 2-0 halfway through the second half and that’s how the scoreline would finish. It was the first US Open Cup victory for the Independence since 2017 when they defeated the Charlotte Eagles (USL League Two). Since then, they have been winless in their last four tournament games, with the last three eliminations coming at the hands of amateur teams (Ocean City Nor’easters in 2018, Florida Soccer Soldiers in 2019, NC Fusion U-23s in 2022).

“For me ‘Miggy’ was man of the match, he dictated the whole damn game … he must have had 200 passes,” said Independence head coach Mike Jeffries when asked about the players that stood out.

Jeffries also added, “I thought Khori was also good, he was very effective. I thought his movement was good, and he found the game really well.  He is going to be a guy that starts a lot of games for us and he is the one guy who did get a fair number of chances.”


Both teams got off to a rocky start as there were many giveaways and changes of possession in the first 10 minutes.  There was even a 3rd minute yellow given to Charlotte’s Bachir Ndiaye for dangerous play on an aerial duel at midfield. When Charlotte was able to secure possession, they were able to generate a few link ups and chances, none of them on target. Many of Appalachian FC’s successful early pressures and interceptions did not translate to possession, including three straight long balls that resulted in the forward dribbling out through the end line.

Charlotte settled in the match over the next 15 spreading Appalachian FC thin and working in between the space left behind. Luis Alvarez provided some great combination play and crosses that led to two separate poorly defended headers by Khori Bennett, neither of which caused the goalie much trouble. Bennett’s quickness and large frame was beginning to show signs of troubling Appalachian’s back line.

On a relatively routine clearance Bennett harried the backline into a giveaway near Appalachian’s endline, he ended up winning the ball and looked to find a pass but was hacked down in the box earning a penalty in the 24th minute. He smartly converted on a well-placed effort to the bottom left corner, Appalachian’s Agnew did well to get a hand on it. For Bennett, it was his third career US Open Cup goal. His first two coming as a member of USL League Two side Reading United AC (in 2016 and 2018). 


Appalachian FC lacked creativity for much of the remainder of the first half. Often Appalachian FC would lump the ball forward to one of their speedy forwards who would run onto the ball and fail to hold the ball up until reinforcements arrived.  The first half ended with Charlotte in control but failing to show killer instinct in front of net.

The second half started with Appalachian FC showing more fight earning a flurry of early corners. However, their attack remained toothless with one of the corners going straight out of bounds for a goal kick. Other than the corners Appalachian FC did not generate a real chance at goal in the second half. Charlotte continued to maintain most of the possession without generating many chances.  That all changed halfway through the second half when Avionne Flanagan ran onto a through ball and took it to the end line where he crisply centered a pass to the penalty spot and Clay Dimick smashed it home on a one-time shot.

The pace of play slowed down dramatically for the remainder of the game with Charlotte maintaining a level of comfort over their 2-0 lead.  Both teams utilized their substitutions and impressively racked up seven yellow cards in the second half.

Despite the mismatch, Appalachian FC did hold their defensive line for much of the game, they gave up very few big chances outside of the goals and most of the shots faced by Agnew were non-threatening.

Charlotte Independence look to play in Round 3 of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and will know their opponent following the conclusion of the third round draw on April 6th

2023 US Open Cup Round 1: Appalachian FC lose lead, hold off shorthanded NC Fusion U-23s in PKs

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Players from Appalachian FC celebrate after scoring a goal against NC Fusion U-23s in the First Round of the 2023 US Open Cup. Photo: Josh Floyd
Players from Appalachian FC celebrate after scoring a goal against NC Fusion U-23s in the First Round of the 2023 US Open Cup. Photo: Josh Floyd

On a lovely, 53-degree night in Boone, N.C., the NPSL’s Appalachian FC hosted veteran USL League Two side, North Carolina Fusion U-23s in a First Round US Open Cup contest. Despite playing the majority of the match with a man advantage, AFC would see a 2-0 lead disappear and the match would end up in a penalty kick shootout. After a 2-2 draw, Appalachia would win the shootout to advance in its first US Open Cup game, against a team with 28 tournament games on its resume.

The debutantes would advance to the Second Round and a date with Charlotte Independence (USL League One) on April 5.


Appalachian FC, wasted no time in opening their Open Cup scoring account. Carson Dinger found Camden Holbrook after just 45 seconds to take the lead.

After a long build up from the back, a booming 40-yard, cross field ball was settled by Dinger who found Holbrook running in the center forward channel. Holbrook chipped a clean shot between opponents for Appalachia’s first Open Cup goal. Dinger would remain active force at both ends throughout the first half.

The Fusion did eventually grow into the game. Their first real attempt on goal coming in the 9th minute. Both sides had had only a few practice sessions together before this game, and the rust showed at times. There were good build ups in both directions for the next 20 minutes until Kevin de Lange found Camden Holbrook for his second tally in the 32nd minute.

London Williams picked up a loose ball in the midfield and charged down the right-hand side. He crossed through the penalty area behind a couple of teammates, when de Lange hit the brakes, turned and laid a perfect ball to the feet of an onrushing Holbrook. He would then fire low to the keeper’s left for a 2-0 lead.


From there the game was on. Just a few minutes later, a header by Juan “Juancho” Fernandez would cut the deficit in half. Fred Ferreira would have his run stopped in the right side of the box. What looked like a routine clearance was deflect by a Fusion player and the ball fell to the foot of Sam Bethell, who sent a powerful cross to the top of the goal area when an unmarked Juancho headed home to pull a goal back for the visitors.

In the 40th minute, the game changed when Brian Torre was shown a straight red card for a aggressive challenge leaving the Fusion down a man before halftime.

Despite being down a man, Juancho nearly equalized on a volley in the third minute of stoppage time.

NC Fusion went into halftime with a slight edge in possession. Appalachian were better with shots; two goals/shots on goal from their four chances compared to one goal/shot on goal from six chances.

The second half began with the Fusion showing some fatigue. They still had chances, but they were not as creative as in the first half. The home team had the first shot of the half in the 48th, but it was smothered by Adam Forster. Juancho and Fred Ferreira were a perpetual thorn in the sides of the Appalachian defense. The first half of the second half was a grudge match going back and forth. Good possession in the middle, but not many decent chances coming from it. 

In the 77th minute, Tererai Chawira brought down Dave Neijenhuis at the top of the penalty arc from a corner kick. The resulting free kick was right footed into the upper 90 by Fred Ferriera to bring the scores level.

Despite the man advantage, Appalachian seems to be slower to most balls. The Fusion had the better ideas but couldn’t convert. Neither side looked 90 minutes fit.


In the first half of extra time, good chances were had by both teams, but Appalachian had more of them. Nearly a potential winner less than a minute in. Despite this, Appalachian looked the more tired of the sides despite a man advantage for 50 minutes. Both sides pushed for a go-ahead goal. Both came up short.

In the second half, NC Fusion’s Adam Burchell’s night would end suddenly on second yellow in the 116th minute on what most would consider a ridiculous reason. An Appalachian attack was shut down on a save which led to a clearance into touch. Burchell ran to the ball kid, got the ball, and ran away from the point of the throw-in with it, thus delaying a restart. His tomfoolery earned him a second yellow and an early trip to the dressing room. Appalachian FC, however, were unable to mount a meaningful attack with a two-man advantage for the last five minutes.

The penalty kick shootout was as short as you could possibly get. The first three Fusion attempts were missed; two of them over the bar, and the other hit the crossbar. The first three attempts by AFC were scored by Landau, Arguelo and de Lange to give the home team a 3-0 win.

It was just the fourth time in the Modern Era (1995-present) that a PK shootout finished with the score 3-0. It was also just the fifth time that a team missed three attempts in a single shootout, but it was the first time that all three misses resulted in a 3-0 scoreline. 

With the shootout win, a “squatchy” Cinderella may have begun.  

Appalachian FC mascot "Squatchy". Photo: Josh Floyd
Appalachian FC mascot “Squatchy”. Photo: Josh Floyd

Penalty Kicks

NCF        Neijenhuis (Miss – high) 0-0
APP        Landau (Goal) 0-1
NCF        Leray (Miss – high) 0-1
APP        Arguelo (Goal) 0-2
NCF        Bethell (Miss – crossbar) 0-2
APP        de Lange (Goal) 0-3


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