Match Preview: WSC at One Knoxville July 19
USL1 Westchester SC

Match Preview: WSC at One Knoxville July 19

July 18, 2025 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Westchester SC News Release


Covenant Health Park

Date/Time of the Match July 19, 2025, 7 PM

Location: Covenant Health Park

WSC's Record 3- 6-5

Opponent One Knoxville

Record 6-4-2

Head Coach Ian Fuller

USL League One issues forfeit to Spokane Velocity FC for use of ineligible player: Westchester SC awarded 3-0 victory, per league rules USL League One Thursday announced that the Week 20 regular season match between Westchester SC and Spokane Velocity FC has been declared a forfeit due to Spokane's use of an ineligible player. Spokane defender Javier Martín Gil, who was not listed on the matchday roster, entered the match in the 59th minute before exiting in the 75th minute. Per league rules, Westchester have been awarded a 3-0 victory, which will be reflected in the league standings and statistics. The match will be recorded as a 3-0 loss for Velocity FC. Spokane will remain in first place on 29 points with an 8-2-5 record, while Westchester will move to 12th place on 14 points with a 3-6-5 record.

First Meeting: In a dramatic and action-packed 90 minutes, Westchester Soccer Club and One Knoxville SC battled to a 1-1 draw on June 7. The first half was largely uneventful offensively, with both sides struggling to create chances. However, the momentum shifted just before halftime when Knoxville defender Stuart Ritchie was shown a red card in the 44th minute for a dangerous tackle, giving Westchester a temporary 11v10 advantage. The trend of teams scoring quickly into the second half finally went Westchester's way, breaking the deadlock in the 51st minute when Joel Johnson lofted a perfect pass to Prince Saydee, who took a great touch in the box and finished beautifully to give WSC a 1-0 lead. That advantage was short-lived, as Johnson was later sent off with a second yellow card, leveling the playing field at 10 men apiece. Moments later, WSC goalkeeper Andrew Hammersley fouled a Knoxville player in the box, resulting in a penalty. Despite diving correctly, Hammersley couldn't stop Kemepes Tekiela's well-placed shot, tying the match at 1-1. Late-game heroics nearly swung the result either way. Hammersley left his net to intercept a play, leaving Knoxville with a clear chance that was heroically blocked by Josh Drack. On the counterattack, Jonathan Bolanos made a stunning run the length of the field, only to be denied by Knoxville keeper Sean Lewis in a clutch save to preserve the draw.

Close But; Five of the last seven w/l decisions have been decided by one goal, with WSC going 1-4 in those five matches.

Visiting Success... WSC enters tonight 2-2-4 in USL League One road matches, coming off their 2-1 loss at FC Naples on July 12. Three of their four overall wins (two USL League One, one US Open Cup) have come on the road.

Solving The Second Half: WSC's USL play has literally been a tale of two halves. In matches where they have either outscored or matched goals with their opponent in the second half, the club is undefeated (2-3-0). In matches where the opponents have dominated the second half, WSC is winless. Their 29 goals allowed are most in USL League One, and they have yet to record a clean sheet in league play.

Against The Top Of The Table: WSC is currently2-4-4 against the current top eight in the USL League One table, with a 1-2-2 mark away against the clubs currently in playoff qualifying spots.

Obregón On Top: Forward Juan Carlos Obregón, Jr. (New York, NY) continues to be one of USL League One's most prolific offensive threats. Obregon's 12 overall goals easily tops the team in all games played. The 2024 USL League One All-League First Team forward now has seven USL League One goals, which ties him for most in the league, tallies three more than teammate Connor McGlynn. Obregón is tied with three others in assists with two as well. His 42 shots in league action is also first amongst all players. He was also a finalist for USL League One Player of the Month for May.

Other League Leaders: Jonathan Bolanos 22 chances created rank fifth in the league so far, and Conor McGlynn's four goals tie him for 15th.

On The Team Side: WSC enters the match tied for 5th in scoring in USL League One with 20 goals, tied for 6th in passing accuracy (81%) and 8th in conversion rate (18%) and 7th in shots at 168.

Homegrown Scorers: In USL play, New York area natives Obregón (New York, NY) McGlynn (Middle Village, NY), Samory Powder and Noah Powder (Edison, NJ) have accounted for 14 of the club's 20 goals thus far, giving the back of the net a decided NY area edge so far. WSC's current roster features eight players who can call the greater New York area home. In addition, defender Kemar "Taxi" Lawrence has logged time in his career as a popular member of the New York Red Bulls. Defender Noah Powder and his brother Samory Powder have also logged time in the Red Bulls development system.

Brotherly Success: The Powder brothers, Samory and Noah (Edison, NJ), are just the fifth pair of brothers to suit up as teammates in a League One match, and the first pair of brothers to be named to the USL League One Team of the Week as teammates in the same week. Midfielder Noah Powder was named Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball with three goal contributions in a 4-4 draw against the Richmond Kickers on April 19. Noah Powder's assist on Samory Powder's goal in the 53rd minute marked the second time in league history a pair of brothers have connected for a joint goal participation (Arturo/David Rodriguez (NTX), 2019). Then we have Samory Powder, the first-year professional registered a beauty of a first professional goal off an assist from his older brother, Noah at Richmond, and followed that up with his second goal, the club's only tally, at Spokane.

Other Honors:

Week Four; Defender Tobi Adewole (Cheverly, Md.) Jonathan Bolanos, Conor McGlynn and Juan Carlos Obregón, Jr. to the USL Bench.

Week Ten; Conor McGlynn and Juan Carlos Obregón, Jr. named to the USL Bench.

Week Eleven: Andrew Hammersley named to USL Bench.

Week Twelve: JC Obregón named to USL Bench.

Week Fourteen: Defender Josh Drack and Midfielder Prince Saydee named to USL Bench

Week Fifteen: Dean Guezen, registered the first multi-goal-contribution match of his professional career selected to USL Team of the week..

Week Sixteen: Prince Saydee, Juan Carlos Obregón, Jr., and Head Coach Dave Carton were selected to USL Team of the week.

Week 19; Juan Carlos Obregón, Jr. names to USL Bench

New Face Added; Westchester SC announced on Wednesday it had acquired midfielder Taimu Okiyoshi on loan from Rhode Island FC of the USL Championship for the remainder of the 2025 USL League One season. A former standout at Marshall University, Okiyoshi has made 14 appearances for Rhode Island this season in the USL Championship, making three starts and logging 299 minutes of action. The 23-year-old has completed 170 passes at an 87.2 percent accuracy rate and one chance created while winning 12 duels at a 57.1 percent success rate and recording 16 recoveries and five interceptions defensively.

Dutch Influence: In addition to the New York locals dotting the roster, WSC is drawing strength from...The Netherlands. The club has a trio of Dutch players as the season starts rolling, including forward Koen Blommestijn (Amstelveen, Netherlands), midfielders Daniel Bouman (Blaricum, Netherlands) and Dean Guezen (Amsterdam, Netherlands).

WSC's inaugural season partners in addition to Northwell Health and SCORE PT include; Leros Transportation Group - luxury transportation partner, Healthfirst - insurance partner, Manhattanville University - premier education partner, Pepsi Bottling Company of New York - beverage partner, RXR - luxury living/real estate partner, MSG Networks - broadcast partner, Breezemont Day Camp - summer day camp partner, Seatgeek - ticketing partner, and Benjamin's Steak House - steak house partner.

On The Air: All of WSC's USL League One matchups will be seen locally on MSG Networks, with Sam Goldfarb calling the action for most home matches.

Up Next: WSC has a road match at Detroit City (July 26) to round out the month.

Check out the Westchester SC Statistics



United Soccer League One Stories from July 18, 2025


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