After upsetting professional side Greenville Triumph in the 1st Round of the US Open Cup for the first USOC win in club history, the Blues were rewarded with another hosting opportunity for the 2nd Round against One Knoxville SC, last season’s USL League 1 champion, on March 31st at 7:00 PM at Greenwood Field.
It is a renewal of the Smoky Mountain Series, which started back in 2022 with an Asheville City win in Knoxville. The last meeting came back in the 2024 edition of the USOC, which saw One Knox emerge victorious at Greenwood Field with a 2-0 victory. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.
How We Got Here
The Blues drew the Greenville Triumph in the 1st Round, a rematch of the 1st Round from 2025 in which Greenville advanced on penalty kicks after a scoreless 120 minutes. The Blues struck first–Rai Pinto shuttled the ball from the midfield into the attacking third, where he played a nifty one-two with Ben Assane Fall to free himself in the box. His cross found Evan Southern in the center, who deflected the ball inside of the far post for the 1st USOC goal in ACSC history. Greenville responded five minutes later, when Devin Boyce put a freekick from the edge of the box into the upper corner to knot the match at 1. That scoreline carried into the break.
A few dangerous chances passed by without anyone being able to put one away to pull ahead. Then, in the 82nd minute, the moment the crowd was waiting for came. Assane found himself in space on the right flank and drove into the box, drawing the Greenville defenders’ attention. He sent a ball through the air toward the back post toward Ashton Bilow, who, while off-balance, tapped the ball home in acrobatic fashion to give the Blues a 2-1 lead. Assane then drove the dagger through Triumph hearts in the 90th minute when he forced a mistake from the Greenville backline before slotting a tidy finish home with the last kick of the game for a 3-1 Asheville victory.
What’s at Stake
The winner of the second round moves into the Final 32 of the tournament and will be matched up against a MLS (Major League Soccer) side in the next round. The US Open Cup is the longest ongoing soccer competition in the United States. Teams ranging from amateur to the first tier (MLS) compete in an 80-team tournament to crown the champion of the US Soccer landscape. The last USL League Two team to make the Round of 32 was FC Golden State Force in 2018 when the league was still branded as the Premier Development League. FC Golden State defeated a league qualifier in the opening round before defeating two USL teams (Orange County and Las Vegas) before falling to MLS outfit LA Galaxy in the Final 32.
The two sides will also compete for the Golden Boot trophy, a staple in the Smoky Mountain Series since its inception in 2022 when One Knox was a member of USL League 2. Asheville won the first leg of the series for the trophy after defeating One Knox in their inaugural match back in 2022 but Knoxville won the reverse fixture and the trophy that year. They then successfully defended it with their victory in the 2024 Open Cup 1st Round after they moved to the professional ranks in 2023. Last season, Knoxville won their first USL League 1 championship.
Tickets/Parking
Tickets are available at this link on the Asheville City website.
Come out and cheer on Asheville City Soccer Club as they battle One Knoxville SC in the Second Round of the U.S. Open Cup at Greenwood Field on the UNC-Asheville campus – gates open at 6:00 p.m. and kickoff is at 7:00 p.m! UNC Asheville opens all non-residential parking lots to the public at no charge after 5:00 p.m. Fans attending the 7:00 p.m. match, with gates opening at 6:00 p.m., will have access to Faculty/Staff, All Permits, and Visitor lots throughout campus. The lots nearest to Greenwood Field are located in the athletic complex near Kimmel Arena. Additional parking is available in non-residential lots across the broader campus. Residential lots, identified by an “R” designation on lot signage, remain restricted to students at all times and should be avoided. A full campus parking map is available at go.unca.edu/campus-map.
Where to Watch if you are Unable to Attend
The game has been selected by the tournament for national broadcasting on CBS Sports Network.
