Columbus Crew vs One Knoxville
Photography by: Bryce Stevenson
For a brief moment on Wednesday night, it felt like another upset was brewing in this wildly unpredictable edition of the US Open Cup.
One Knoxville SC — already one of the breakout stories of the tournament this year — answered an early Columbus Crew goal almost immediately and carried the composure of a club that had already stunned one MLS opponent this tournament. But against one of Major League Soccer’s elite sides, it ended up not being enough.
The Columbus Crew eventually imposed their quality, pulling away for a convincing 4-1 victory at Lower.com Field to book a place in the US Open Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.
After back-to-back league wins over the LA Galaxy and Philadelphia Union, Columbus carried that momentum straight into cup play. From the opening whistle, the Crew controlled possession, tempo, and territory against the defending USL League One champions, suffocating Knoxville with wave after wave of pressure.
The breakthrough came in the 10th minute through Hugo Picard, whose impact on this tournament is quickly becoming impossible to ignore. Cutting in from the left, the young midfielder fired a low effort that took a slight deflection before sneaking past goalkeeper Jonathan Burke.
But Knoxville’s response was immediate.
Just one minute later, Eli Conway forced a point-blank save from Crew goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen after getting on the end of a dangerous cross from Mikkel Gøling. The rebound fell kindly to Braudílio Rodrigues, who nodded home to silence the crowd and briefly reignite the magic of Knoxville’s cup run.
“To get that goal was massive for us,” One Knoxville head coach, Ian Fuller, said afterward. “I was hoping we’d be able to push on, but we never really got our footing.”
That footing became increasingly difficult to find against a Columbus side that looked sharper every minute. The Crew dominated possession for much of the first half and regained the lead in the 23rd minute through Picard again, with the Frenchman producing a near carbon copy of his first goal. Suddenly, the 22-year-old had four goals in just two Open Cup appearances and had emerged as an unlikely Golden Boot contender.
“Really nice to see,” Crew head coach Henrik Rydström said of Picard’s performance. “Not just the goals, but the defensive work and pressing too.”
Knoxville still had moments. Babacar Diene rattled the crossbar with a thunderous volley in the second half, while Teddy Baker struck the post deep into stoppage time. Former Crew Academy player Donovan Williams also injected energy after halftime in front of a hometown crowd.
But the gap between MLS contender and lower-division underdog eventually showed.
Dániel Gazdag stretched the lead in the 72nd minute with a composed finish, before 18-year-old Chase Adams capped the night five minutes later with his first senior goal for Columbus.
For Knoxville, the scoreline ultimately did little to diminish what had been a landmark tournament run. The “Boys in Blue” became one of the final lower-division teams standing after eliminating D.C. United earlier in the competition — just the fourth time a USL League One club had defeated an MLS side in the Open Cup.
The fairytale may have ended in Columbus, but Knoxville leaves the tournament with its profile elevated nationally. The Crew, meanwhile, continue forward looking every bit like a club capable of making a deep cup run of their own.
