Club adds flair with 4 roster additions
Single-game tickets on sale Wednesday
Fort Wayne FC bolstered its roster Friday with the additions of four players, including returning footballers Anthony Hernandez and Aboubacar Traore.
Traore, who starred collegiately at Florida Atlantic University, will be joined on the Fort Wayne FC roster by two others who suited up for the FAU Owls – Oliver Moller-Jensen and Mamadou Diarra, one of the most celebrated players in college soccer last season.
Fort Wayne FC, which won the Valley Division championships in 2023 and 2024, will open its season May 11 at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium.
Fort Wayne FC’s roster is now up to eight players, including Reid Sproat, Tiago Dias, Namik Mehic and Aurie Briscoe. All roster additions are pending league and federation approval.
Hernandez, a 21-year-old defender, played 13 games last season with Fort Wayne FC and helped them to a Valley Division Championship. He then started 19 matches for Bowling Green State University and assisted on three goals.
“Anthony fits perfectly with the way we strive to play with Fort Wayne FC,” club head coach Mike Avery said. “Anthony is a very technical player who can perform cleanly while at a high pace. His comfort level on the ball allows the game to appear slowed down, even when he is actually speeding up the tempo. His work rate on both sides of the ball makes him a great candidate to play in the fullback position for us, and his versatility allows us to also use him in other positions as needed.
“Anthony has been a very good player for a strong Bowling Green program, and we are eager to see his progress over the last year. Anthony has so much upside and his willingness to work on his game is an example to the players around him.”
Traore, a 21-year-old attacker, played 10 games last season with Fort Wayne FC and showed his flair for offense with two goals in a friendly against Chivas Guadalajara. He went on to become a First Team All-Conference selection in the American Athletic Conference for FAU, leading the AAC with 10 assists, which tied an Owls record. He scored four goals in 16 games.
“The opportunity to bring Aboubacar Traore back for the 2025 season was a no-brainer for us,” Avery said. “We all saw last summer a player with electric pace, creative execution and goal-scoring ability, and those qualities have only continued to grow over the past year.
“Aboubacar has the potential to one day successfully transition to the professional game and we hope to help him develop further to fulfill the promise we see in him.”
Diarra, a 23-year-old attacker, was the AAC’s Offensive Player of the Year and he was First Team All-Conference, after a season in which he had eight goals, three of which were game-winners, and eight assists in 16 games. He was No. 57 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Top-100 players in NCAA Division I. Among his other accomplishments was a hat trick, in one half, against Stetson.
“There were very few players across all of college soccer that I saw in 2024 who caught my attention as quickly as Mamadou Diarra,” Avery said. “Mamadou is a striker who can score in a variety of ways, has both pace and power, and can also create chances for others with unselfish passing. FAU was one of the most dynamic attacking sides in college soccer last fall, and Mamadou played a big role in that.
“Mamadou is not just a talent on the field, but his character and humility fit what our club looks for in the players we bring to Fort Wayne. We are excited to get Mamadou with us this summer.”
Moller-Jensen, a 21-year-old attacker, had one goal and two assists last season with FAU. In 2023, he was named to the AAC’s All-Freshman Team.
“Oliver Moller-Jensen can hurt the opposition in many ways. Oliver is a threat off the dribble, delivers quality crosses into dangerous areas, and can pass and shoot well with both feet,” Avery said. “Oliver is positionally flexible and can play all across the front line, and his ability to interchange positions and still be effective makes him even more difficult to defend. Oliver’s work rate off the ball and his desire to win the ball back in pressing situations add to his many attacking qualities and make him a great fit for our attack.”
About Fort Wayne FC
Fort Wayne FC, founded in 2019, is currently a pre-professional club in USL League Two’s Valley Division in the Central Conference. The club won Valley Division championships in 2023 and 2024. Fort Wayne FC is moving to the professional ranks of USL League One in 2026 at a new state-of-the-art stadium. www.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.