Oliver Moller-Jensen scored two late goals to lead Fort Wayne FC to victory in its first match of 2025, an exciting non-divisional friendly against Sueño FC on Sunday.
Moller-Jensen scored with a curving shot from 24 yards out in the 83rd minute, then added another goal from similar territory in stoppage time at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium.
“I’m very happy to get on the field and try to help the team,” Moller-Jensen said. “And obviously to score two goals in the final stages of the game is a confidence boost – not just to myself, but also to our team. This was a great team effort and I’m very happy.”
Fort Wayne FC, which won the Valley Division in 2023 and 2024, begins divisional play 7 p.m. Saturday at the Dayton Dutch Lions.
This was a good start with Fort Wayne FC putting six shots on net to Sueño FC’s two. Fort Wayne FC’s Aurie Briscoe had two stops before he was substituted out for David Anderson.
“I feel like we did well,” Moller-Jensen said. “We created a lot, which was the first objective, and all the goals and stuff will come with time. It was our first game, so obviously everything is not going to be perfect. We’ve still got stuff to work on, but all in all I feel like we did very well.”
In a scoreless first half that featured good pace, Fort Wayne FC had the majority of the chances and had four of the half’s five shots on goal.
Two of the best early chances were by Fort Wayne FC’s Matthew Catavolo, who hit the crossbar and had a shot saved by Sueño FC’s Michael Mroz. Fort Wayne FC’s Mamadou Diarra also had a near miss from close range with a shot that sailed wide.
Fort Wayne FC opened the second half maintaining offensive momentum, if not gaining success on its chances, and Reid Sproat had a header in the match’s 49th minute that sailed just high. Sproat soon made another big play at the other end, blocking a shot from getting near the Fort Wayne FC net.
Another Fort Wayne FC opportunity saw Caio Oliveira put a free kick over the crossbar from 21 yards out. And in the 81st minute, Diarra got a strong shot off a corner kick that sailed high of the net.
Then, Moller-Jensen made noise with his two goals for the victory in front of a crowd of 1,025.
“We just took over the match in the last 10 minutes,” defender Tiago Dias said. “That’s the biggest takeaway. We didn’t give up. We tried to play our football the whole game, and that’s the most important point.”
