Fort Wayne Football Club Looks to Feed off Atmosphere against Portland Hearts of Pine
USL1 Fort Wayne FC

Fort Wayne Football Club Looks to Feed off Atmosphere against Portland Hearts of Pine

Published on May 5, 2026 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Fort Wayne FC News Release


Fort Wayne Football Club opened Ruoff Mortgage Stadium on Saturday night to much excitement, as local sports fans got their first look at the soccer-specific stadium at 6411 Bass Road and witnessed a 2-2 draw with the Charlotte Independence.

Now, it's time for Match No. 2 at the venue. The club will play host to the Portland Hearts of Pine at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Buy your tickets at Tickets.FortWayneFC.com. Parking is prepay only. If you have concerns or questions, please email tickets@fortwaynefc.com.

The parking lot opens at 5:15 p.m. and the stadium at 6 p.m. The club is recommending fans allow plenty of time to ease the flow of traffic into Ruoff Mortgage Stadium.

Fort Wayne FC (1-2-2) is undefeated in its last two USL League One matches - including a 1-0 victory over the Charlotte Independence on April 11 - and Portland is 2-1-3.

"It was good to get the point and that game (Saturday) could have gone either way," said Taig Healy, who scored the first goal in Ruoff Mortgage Stadium history with a fourth-minute header after Tiago Dias headed him a pass across the box.

Jayden Smith also scored for Fort Wayne FC.

"Now we've just got to get used to the pitch, get used to the stadium. The support here, for sure, helped us," Healy said.

Fort Wayne FC had only one practice at the stadium before Saturday night's match and there were understandable opening-night jitters, but the club handled it well by surging to 1-0 and 2-1 leads, and it expects to be more comfortable with its surroundings for Wednesday's match.

"The boys did well with it. The crowd brought a good atmosphere. We didn't get the result that we wanted, but we can live with the tie," said Emerson Nieto, a native of Fort Wayne who made his professional debut against Charlotte.

Nieto and Kabiru Gafar were the 14th and 15th players to make their senior-level pro debuts this season for Fort Wayne FC, the youngest club in the league.

To read Fort Wayne FC's game notes, click here. Portland's game notes are here.

After Wednesday's match, Fort Wayne FC plays host to Westchester SC on Saturday at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. The opening of the parking lot and gates will remain 5:15 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, for that match, as the finishing touches are put on the largest outdoor stadium in Northeast Indiana.

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