One Knoxville and Boise played out a 2-2 draw in the USL League One Group Stage on Friday evening. The result leaves both sides further apart in the table, with Knoxville holding fourth place on 40 points and Boise sitting sixth with 38.
R. Gill opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 17th minute for the hosts. By then the game already had a rhythm, but the kick shifted the balance. J. Dengler turned the tie around with his own goal at 28, before T. Moshobane restored Knoxville's lead three minutes later at 31.
And here's the thing — the visitors did not let the deficit stand. J. Ricketts found the net in the 83rd minute to salvage a point for Boise. The equaliser came late, and by then both sets of legs were heavy. Yellow cards for B. Uderitz, J. Ricketts and Bull marked a match that grew increasingly physical.
Boise had more shots on target with six against three, and eight corners to the hosts' one. To be fair, Knoxville were more clinical. Three shots on target produced two goals, while the visitors fired 14 attempts and could only manage one goal.
Both sides made several changes in the second half. D. Krioutchenkov and K. Linhares came on together for Boise at 59, while C. Adams and S. Zarokostas replaced two players at 71. The hosts brought on R. Gill and J. Barea at 78, though Gill had already scored earlier from the spot.
The result extends Knoxville's recent pattern of tight matches. They had drawn with Portland Hearts of Pine and Greenville Triumph in their last two outings. Boise, meanwhile, have won their last two encounters but could not close the gap on their hosts.