WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio – Fort Wayne FC opened its USL League Two season in rousing fashion with a 2-0 victory over the host Dayton Dutch Lions on Saturday night.
Mamadou Diarra opened the scoring in the 14th minute and Caio Oliveira added the insurance goal in the 69th minute at West Carrollton High School, where Fort Wayne goalkeeper Aurie Briscoe had the clean sheet.
“We came here and we were prepared for the game,” Diarra said. “It was our first USL game of the season and we came out here, we showed up, and we won. It’s the first ‘W,’ so now we’re looking for the second one.”
Fort Wayne FC’s next match will be 7 p.m. Friday against Lexington SC in Lexington, Kentucky.
“That was just the beginning,” said Diarra, who scored from about 9 yards out by turning a Dayton defender around and unleashing a left-footed shot. “We’ve still got a lot of games and we’ve just got to keep focused and just keep winning those games.”
Oliveira credited Nathan Ntalu for the “fantastic” pass that set up his goal from about 18 yards out, and Oliveira added that Fort Wayne FC was determined to improve on its first-half performance.
“I thought we got better in the second half, but it was the beginning of the season and we showed that we can finish strong in the second half,” Oliveira said. “Even if we have a weak start, we can build from there. That was pretty good.”
Saturday’s victory came on the heels of a 2-0 victory over Sueño FC in a friendly Sunday at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium that was paced by two Oliver Moller-Jensen goals, and Fort Wayne FC is brimming with confidence as it attempts to win the Valley Division for a third straight year before it moves to the professional ranks of USL League One in 2026.
“This was definitely a confidence boost, yeah,” Oliveira said.
Make sure to check out all of Fort Wayne FC’s match-day photos.
