Four matches remain in Fort Wayne Football Club’s first regular season in professional soccer.
But the club is working on extending its play to the beyond by qualifying for the USL League One playoffs, and Fort Wayne FC controls its own fate.
The Autumn Gold & Black are in the eighth and final playoff slot amid the league’s 17 teams. A huge match looms Wednesday night with Corpus Christi FC, the team chasing Fort Wayne FC in the standings.
Fort Wayne FC heads into Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. (Eastern time) kickoff at Cabaniss Athletic Complex in Corpus Christi, Texas, with a 10-9-9 record. That includes draws in the last three matches, capped by a scoreless draw Saturday with Forward Madison during which Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann stopped three shots for his league-leading ninth clean sheet of the season while playing in the 100th USL League One regular-season match of his career.
Fort Wayne FC has a three-point lead over Corpus Christi (9-10-9) for the final playoff spot. Corpus Christi is coming off a 3-0 road loss Saturday to Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, but the Sharks have won two of their last three matches.
To view the Fort Wayne FC media kit for this match, click here. The Corpus Christi media kit is here.
The match will air on ESPN+. The Fort Wayne FC supporters group, the 3 Rivers Regiment, will host a Watch Party at Wings Etc. on Illinois Road.
Fort Wayne FC and Corpus Christi SC have met once before, on May 20 at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, and that contest ended in a 1-all tie that saw Autumn Gold & Black captain Tiago Dias score his first professional goal on a header, following a Javier Armas corner kick.
It’s possible that Dias, who played for Fort Wayne FC in the pre-professional level of USL League Two, could tie teammate Reid Sproat for the club’s all-time matches played mark Wednesday. Sproat is at 68 matches over five seasons, including 11 starts and 19 appearances over all competitions this season, and Dias is at 67 matches over four seasons with 29 starts and 30 appearances this season.
Goalkeeper Aurie Echevarría, a current teammate, ranks third all-time in matches played with 38 over four seasons. Echevarría returned to Fort Wayne FC this week following a stint with Puerto Rico’s National Team for CONCACAF Nations League matches.
While Corpus Christi is the largest threat to Fort Wayne FC’s hopes of qualifying for the postseason, there are others. FC Naples is five points back of Fort Wayne FC, and Westchester SC and Sarasota Paradise are each six points back.
This Saturday, Fort Wayne FC plays at league-leading Union Omaha (19-6-4), which defeated the Autumn Gold & Black 4-2 on June 6 in a Prinx Tires USL Cup match at Nebraska and 2-0 at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium in a league match Aug. 1.
The Oct. 17 match will be Teacher Appreciation Night, presented by Manchester University, and educators and other school employees who provide identification can receive a complimentary ticket at the Ruoff Mortgage Stadium Ticket Office.
The Oct. 24 match will be Report Card Night, presented by Parkview Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics Northeast, and kids who bring a report card to the Ticket Office can receive a complimentary ticket.
The Ticket Office is open 12:30-5 p.m. the day before a match, and 12:30 p.m.-end of match on game days.
Fans purchasing at the Ticket Office are reminded that the parking lot requires prepayment at fortwaynefc.com/parking.
About Fort Wayne Football Club
Fort Wayne Football Club, founded in 2019, is a professional soccer club playing its first season in USL League One in 2026. The club plays home matches at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, which opened May 2, 2026, and is a soccer-specific venue. In pre-professional USL League Two, Fort Wayne Football Club won division titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025. For more information, visit FortWayneFC.com.
About United Soccer League
Founded in 1986, the United Soccer League (USL) is the largest and fastest-growing soccer organization in the United States, impacting more than 200 communities nationwide. The USL is the first and only organization to offer a comprehensive youth-to-professional pathway for both men and women under one ecosystem. This structure includes four men’s leagues: the newly announced, top-tier professional Division I league, the USL Championship (Division II), USL League One (Division III), and USL League Two (pre-professional). The women’s pathway includes the top-tier USL Super League (Division I), which debuted in 2024, and USL W League, the country’s leading pre-professional women’s league. The USL also oversees USL Academy, a progressive talent development platform, and USL Youth, a premier national youth platform.