Fort Wayne Football Club Secures 2-2 Draw in Ruoff Mortgage Stadium's Inaugural Match
USL1 Fort Wayne FC

Fort Wayne Football Club Secures 2-2 Draw in Ruoff Mortgage Stadium's Inaugural Match

Published on May 2, 2026 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Fort Wayne FC News Release


It was a night 18 months in the making.

Fort Wayne Football Club opened Ruoff Mortgage Stadium on Saturday night, riding goals from Taig Healy and Jayden Smith to a 2-2 draw with the Charlotte Independence.

It was an unforgettable night for the soccer fans in attendance, after Fort Wayne FC opened its first season of professional soccer with five matches on the road.

Healy opened the scoring in the fourth minute, heading the ball inside the left post after Tiago Dias sent a header across the penalty area to set him up for the first goal in the stadium's history.

After Charlotte's Christy Manzinga evened the score in the seventh minute, Smith regained the lead for Fort Wayne FC in the 10th minute. Smith slid toward the goal line to touch the ball in, after Charlotte goalkeeper Matt Levy deflected a Lilian Ricol shot toward the right post.

The final goal of the match was scored in the 15th minute by Charlotte's Enzo Martinez.

Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann stopped five shots. Levy thwarted seven for Charlotte. Both teams are 1-2-2 in USL League One play.

"For me, this night was big," said Emerson Nieto, a native of Fort Wayne who was added to the roster earlier in the day after training with the club for several weeks. "Growing up, I didn't have this, this (stadium) wasn't here. Now me being able to be in this jersey, in this stadium, playing for this club, it's a big deal and it's hopefully giving young talent in Fort Wayne that vision that there is a way to play in the pro level here."

Fort Wayne FC's majority owner, Mark Music, initially announced on Nov. 4, 2024, his intention to build Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. Once completed, it'll be the largest outdoor venue in Northeast Indiana with capacity of over 9,200.

Saturday night's match was played with a reduced capacity and the club, in its first professional season after five at the pre-professional level of USL League Two, will play there again 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against the Portland Hearts of Pine (1-3-3).

"There were some jitters and some excitement with it being our first game here," said Healy, whose club won its previous USL League One match, 1-0 at the Chattanooga Red Wolves, then had a spirited performance in a 3-1 loss to USL Championship-leading Louisville City FC in a Prinx Tires USL Cup match.

"I think we can learn from it and, obviously, we have a lot of games coming up. It was good to get a point, and that's two league games in a row that we haven't lost, and we've just got to keep moving forward."

Match photos

Postgame interviews

FORT WAYNE FC 2-0-2

CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE 2-0-2

May 2, 2026

At Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, Fort Wayne, Indiana

RECORDS: FW 1-2-2; CLT 1-2-2

GOALS: FW- Taig Healy, Jayden Smith; CLT- Christy Manzinga, Enzo Martinez.

ASSISTS: FW-Tiago Diaz; CLT-Joey Skinner, Jon Bakero

SAVES: FW-Bernd Schipmann, 7; CLT- Matthew Levy, 5.

POSSESSION: FW- 48.8%; CLT-51.2%.

YELLOW CARDS: FW- Juan Solis, JP Jordan; CLT- Christy Manzinga, Jon Bakero

RED CARDS: FW-None; CLT-None.

REFEREE: Christopher Caldron

Check out the Fort Wayne FC Statistics

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