KNOXVILLE, TN (November 2, 2025) – The Charlotte Independence’s 2025 season came to a close Sunday evening, falling to One Knox 2-1 in the league quarterfinals.
The match came down to finishing chances. The Independence played an exceptional match against the regular season champions, outshooting One Knox 17-10. However, One Knoxville made due with their opportunities on target, finishing two of their four.
Goalkeeper #1 Sean Lewis was fantastic for One Knox, making five saves on the evening, including multiple reactionary stops on the doorstep.
It was the exact kind of start Charlotte was looking for as the road underdog and they nearly struck gold in the 13th minute. Off the re-cross from a corner, #99 Christian Chaney struck the woodwork.
One minute later and it was #26 Souaibou Marou who just missed. It was an excellent save from Lewis, who reacted very well to Marou’s close-range header.
Just after Charlotte couldn’t finish those chances, One Knox took theirs. #3 Sivert Haugli nodded home a corner kick to put the Players’ Shield winners ahead in the 17th minute.
Lewis was One Knox’s best player in the first 20 minutes as Charlotte continued to create grade-A chances. Again, his reactions were excellent, denying Marou’s volley from in-close in the 21st minute.
One Knox had a glorious opportunity to double the advantage in the 43rd minute, but goalkeeper #31 Amal Knight was up for the task. He robbed #21 Stavros Zarokostas with a diving stop to keep Charlotte within striking distance.
Despite the strong half from Charlotte, the scoreboard read 1-0 One Knox heading to the second half and a big last 45 needed for the Independence to extend their season.
With expected urgency, the Jacks came flying out of the blocks to begin the second half. Lewis made a strong near-post stop on #9 Jon Bakero in the 49th minute. The flurry continued five minutes later as Chaney’s free header in the 54th minute off a Bakero corner bounced over the bar.
Knoxville showed how lethal they can be on the counter and got their insurance goal in the 64th minute. Zarokostas showed off his speed, got in behind, and buried it into the side netting.
Finally in the 77th minute, Charlotte got their goal. Chaney finished off a lovely counter, knocking in a cross from #13 Anthony Sorenson and declaring “game on” for the final 12 minutes.
In stoppage time, Knoxville masterfully salted time away, shielding in the Jacks’ corner. Once Charlotte finally worked it out of their end, no time was left for an attack and the hosts held on to advance to the semifinals, ending Charlotte’s season.
POST-GAME QUOTES:
Head Coach Mike Jeffries sums up the match:
“I thought we came out really brightly and pushed the game. I think we made them adjust to us in the first 15 minutes and we had a few good looks, hitting the post but we weren’t able to score. Conceding on a set piece was really, really frustrating. I felt like we continued to push the game the first half and create chances. We started on the front foot in the second half. The second goal was a a back breaker, which comes off a mistake playing the ball out. I thought we still bounced back and made the game interesting at the end with a really good goal. Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite push enough to get chances once we got to 2-1.”
Jeffries on the heart of his squad:
“Our league is an even league and Knoville deserves all the credit for making it through the season and winning the Players’ Shield and they’re a hard team to play at home, but I also thought our group was fully up for the challenge. We definitely showed a belief that we could end up with the win.”
Clay Dimick on the effort:
“I was proud of the way the team approached the game and came out on the front foot. We had chances to place our stake in the game early. Despite giving up two frustrating goals, we never stopped fighting and put everything we had into this game.”
Christian Chaney on the game and the season:
“We’re gutted. We thought going into the game and even at the start of the game after I hit the post, we had them and I think that we took the game to them. I think it’s one of our better performances that we’ve had of the year honestly. If we put our chances away, things are different, but that’s part of the game. I’m really proud of what we accomplished, all the ups and downs that we had this year. We stayed together as a group and we stuck together to our game plan.”
