Autumn Gold & Black Dealt 1st Loss on Home Grounds Amid Rain
USL1 Fort Wayne FC

Autumn Gold & Black Dealt 1st Loss on Home Grounds Amid Rain

Published on August 1, 2026 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Fort Wayne FC News Release


Fort Wayne Football Club was dealt its first defeat on home grounds in USL League One play on Saturday night, falling 2-0 to the first-place team, Union Omaha.

Mother Nature was involved in the match - rain poured down for most of the night at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium - as a crowd of 3,801 was on hand at 6411 Bass Road.

Union Omaha got goals from Allen Gavilanes in the 61st minute and Sergio Ors in the 74th minute, and Cole Jensen stopped two shots for the clean sheet.

"They're obviously at the top of the table for a reason and they're there almost every year," Fort Wayne FC coach Mike Avery said. "I think for a long stretch in the first half, we were terrific and we've showed that we can play with these teams. But then our youth comes out and (so do) the little details we need to fine-tune."

Fort Wayne FC has the youngest team in USL League One and remains just below the playoff line in ninth place. Fourteen matches remain in the regular season for Fort Wayne FC.

"You need experiences like this to learn. It's not always fun to do it. But the only way you can do that is to keep going," Avery said. "We earn their respect every time we play them. But at the end of the day, (we need) to close out. We have chances that go missing at one end, then they come down and hit a great goal. That's the difference. It's just a little maturity in certain moments and it'll come with time."

Fort Wayne FC's Bernd Schipmann stopped 5 of 7 shots in a match that saw his side lead the possession stats, 54.4% to 45.6%.

"We've learned we can play with the best team in the league," Fort Wayne FC's Jeremy Garay said. "They're obviously in first place and, two weeks ago, we played well against (defending-champion) One Knoxville, too, (in a 2-1 loss). So, we've shown we can play against the best teams. It's just the little details we're not finding right now. We can learn from this and just get better, honestly."

While it was the first ever regular-season meeting between Fort Wayne FC and Union Omaha, they did compete in a Prinx Tires USL Cup match June 6 that was won 4-2 by Union Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

Fort Wayne FC (7-5-6) finished the match Saturday night with only 10 men on the field because Michael Rempel was assessed a red card for a professional foul in the 88th minute. Fort Wayne FC is 4-1-3 in home matches during the USL League One season.

The loss leaves only two league teams unbeaten at home - Forward Madison, which is 6-0-1 at home (the only draw coming against Fort Wayne FC), and Union Omaha, which is 7-0-2 at home and 12-5-2 overall.

Fort Wayne FC isn't back at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium until Aug. 15, when it plays host to Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, but the Autumn Gold & Black do have a road match this Saturday in Lancaster, California, against AV Alta FC (7-5-8). The teams met on May 30 at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, playing to a scoreless draw.

Box score

FORT WAYNE FC 0-0-0 UNION OMAHA FC 0-2-2 August 1, 2026 At Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, Fort Wayne, Indiana Attendance: 3,801 RECORDS: FW 7-5-6; OMA 12-5-2 GOALS: FW-None; OMA-Allen Gavilanes, Sergio Ors. ASSISTS: FW-None; OMA-Younes Boudadi, Pato Batello Faz. SAVES: FW-Bernd Schipmann 5; OMA-Cole Jensen 2. POSSESSION: FW-54.4%; OMA-45.6%. YELLOW CARDS: FW-Tiago Dias; OMA-Blake Malone, Gabriel de Freitas, Marion Vargas. RED CARDS: FW- Michael Rempel; OMA-None. REFEREE: Jorge Escobar.

Check out the Fort Wayne FC Statistics

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United Soccer League One Stories from August 1, 2026


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