All signs are pointing toward another playoff berth being in Fort Wayne FC’s future.
But the club knows if it lets down, things can change, and it isn’t resting on its laurels heading into Saturday’s 7 p.m. match at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium against West Virginia United.
Coach Mike Avery delivered that message to his players after Wednesday’s pivotal 2-0 victory over Lexington SC, saying: “We have to follow this up now, right away on Saturday, and it’s no time to celebrate. We’ve got to get right back to work. We’ll see what we can do the last four games (of the USL League Two season).”
Fort Wayne FC (7-0-1), which won the Valley Division in 2023 and 2024, is trying to depart USL League Two with a championship before joining the professional ranks of USL League One in 2026 – when the club will open a new state-of-the-art, soccer-specific stadium at Bass Road and I-69.
After Saturday’s match, Fort Wayne FC will face Kings Hammer FC Columbus 7 p.m. Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, before playing an international friendly at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium at 7 p.m. June 28 against Atlas Fútbol Club’s Sub-23 team – which figures to be one of the must-see matches of the year.
Atlas FC is a professional club based in Guadalajara, Mexico, that plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football.
Nicknamed “Los Rojinegros,” or “The Red and Blacks,” and also called “Los Zorros,” or “The Foxes,” Atlas FC was founded in 1916 and has won three league titles and four domestic cups.
The Atlas FC academy system is renowned for developing talented players for the National Team such as Rafael Márquez, Jared Borgetti, Daniel Osorno, José de Jesús Corona, Pável Pardo, Juan Carlos Medina, Jorge Hernández, Mario Méndez, Édgar Pacheco and Jeremy Márquez.
Atlas FC’s fans are known as “La Fiel,” or “The Faithful,” while the supporters group called “La Barra 51” is a reference to Atlas’ first championship in the Primera División de México, which took place in 1951.
But first, Fort Wayne FC must deal Saturday with West Virginia United (1-4-1), a team it defeated 3-0 on the road June 4, when it got goals from Matthew Catavolo, Gaku Nishimura and Caio Oliveira.
Oliveira has five goals in his first season with Fort Wayne FC – already tying for fourth in club history for most career goals – and that included a penalty-kick goal in Wednesday’s match over second-place Lexington SC. Anthony Hernandez scored a late insurance goal.
Asked how Fort Wayne FC will make sure there are no letdowns the rest of the way, Oliveira said: “It’s thinking about all the work we’ve done. We’ve worked really hard to get to this point and we can’t let it slip. … We’ll be playing in front of the home fans and that’ll help us, and … we’ll think about how we did all this work for a reason and we’re not going to let it go.”
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.
