Fort Wayne Football Club rides a five-match unbeaten streak into Saturday, when it hopes to lock up a playoff berth in its first season of professional soccer.
The Autumn Gold & Black have a 7:30 p.m. kickoff with Sarasota Paradise at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium and a victory would clinch a postseason spot for Fort Wayne FC.
It’ll be Teacher Appreciation Night. Educators and other school employees can get a complimentary ticket by presenting identification at the Ruoff Mortgage Stadium Ticket Office. The office, at 6411 Bass Road, is open 12:30- 5 p.m. Friday and after 12:30 p.m. day of the match.
This will be the penultimate match of Fort Wayne FC’s regular season. It is 12-9-9 and coming off pivotal road victories, 3-1 at Corpus Christi FC on Oct. 7 and 1-0 at Union Omaha last Saturday – the Owls’ first loss at home in 26 matches over 15 months, knocking them from the top of the USL League One table.
Taig Healy scored for Fort Wayne FC in that match – his team-leading 11th goal of the USL Lague One season – and Bernd Schipmann stopped five shots for his league-leading 10th clean sheet of the season.
Schipmann became the first goalkeeper in USL League One history with double-digit shutouts in multiple seasons. He had 12 clean sheets for Forward Madison in 2023. With 37 shutouts in his USL League One career, Schipmann ranks third all-time and is one back of FC Naples’ Lalo Delgado and 10 back of Union Omaha’s Rashid Nuhu.
There will be lots of fun activities outside of the match Saturday at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, including the FanZone, bounce houses and a special halftime treat as mascot Friendly the Goalrilla attempts to stop club co-owner DaMarcus Beasley in a penalty kick for bragging rights. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will get a special Friendly the Goalrilla trading card, courtesy of Midwest Box Breaks.
To read Fort Wayne FC’s media guide for this match, click here. The Sarasota Paradise’s are here.
When it comes to the USL League One playoff race, the top eight teams in the 17-team league will qualify for the postseason. Fort Wayne FC is in eighth place, just one point back of Chattanooga Red Wolves SC and five points ahead of FC Naples. Both Chattanooga and Naples have two matches remaining, but Naples is idle this weekend.
The Sarasota Paradise (10-13-6), who are also in their first pro season, are in must-win mode as they make their first ever visit to Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. The clubs haven’t met since March 14, when they played to a 2-all draw in Fort Wayne FC’s second match of the season.
Sarasota is coming off a pivotal 3-2 victory over the Richmond Kickers last Saturday and are 5-1-3 over their last nine matches.
After Saturday’s match, Fort Wayne FC will wrap up its regular season Oct. 24 at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium against Athletic Club Boise. It will be Report Card Night and kids who bring a report card to the Ticket Office can get a complimentary ticket.
Fans visiting the ticket office on the days of matches are reminded that once the lot opens at 4:45 p.m., only those who have prepaid their parking will be allowed in. That can be done at fortwaynefc.com/parking.
Fort Wayne FC and AC Boise have met only once before, May 32 in Idaho, and the Autumn Gold & Black won 3-1.
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.