EAST RIDGE, Tenn. – Fort Wayne Football Club got its first victory in professional soccer Saturday night, spoiling the Chattanooga Red Wolves’ home opener with a 1-0 victory at CHI Memorial Stadium.
Taig Healy scored 44 seconds in for his first professional goal – and the fastest goal in Fort Wayne FC history – by stealing the ball, sprinting with it 10 yards, and then firing a shot from just outside the penalty area.
“Taig has been doing that all week in training, and he took his chance really well,” said assistant coach Keelan Barker, who coached Fort Wayne FC on Saturday night. “The team showed a true professional performance after that.”
The record for fastest goal in USL League One history is 8 seconds, set by FC Tucson’s Tarn Weir in 2022. Fort Wayne FC, which played in the pre-professional level of USL League Two from 2021 to 2025, never had scored goal quicker than the one scored Saturday by Healy.
“It was nice to get a quick goal,” Healy said. “I think it threw Chattanooga for a loop because we know what they like to do, they like to sit back and wait and be a counter team. I think we took them out of their rhythm and that helped a lot. We’d been saying all week that we just needed a goal and then we’ll be good in the game.”
What ensued the rest of the match was a defensive and physical struggle, as a total of 12 cards were handed out. That included a red card for Fort Wayne FC’s Trace Terry, who received his second yellow in the 91st minute – forcing his club to play a man down, though it didn’t alter the result in front of a crowd of 1,206.
“Yes, it was a very intense game,” Barker said. “We knew going into this game we had to match it and the staff is definitely proud of the way the lads handled the game. I’m proud of the club overall for getting the first three points in pro history, and I’m looking forward to many more.”
Chattanooga Red Wolves coach Scott Mackenzie was sent off due to a pair of yellow cards in the 60th minute.
Fort Wayne FC’s head coach, Mike Avery, wasn’t on the sideline during the match due to a red card received in his club’s 2-0 loss to the New York Cosmos on March 28.
“The lads did fantastic tonight,” Barker said. “Chattanooga is a tough place to play, and we were challenged for 90 minutes. We showed a lot of grit and it’s a good sign for a young team to show so much early in the season.”
Fort Wayne FC had seven shots but Healy’s was the only one on target. Chattanooga had 13 shots, with only two on target, and Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann emerged with the clean sheet – the 28th of his USL League One career, now putting him alone in fourth place for most in league history. Akira Fitzgerald is third with 31 and Rashid Nuhu first with 46.
Fort Wayne FC (1-2-1), in the midst of five straight season-opening matches on the road, finishes the string April 25 in a Prinx Tires USL Cup match at Louisville City FC. The USL Cup is a World Cup-style tournament featuring teams from USL League One and the level above it – USL Championship, in which Louisville City plays – and this will be the first of four group-play matches for Fort Wayne FC.
Chattanooga, which finished second in the USL League One standings last season before falling in the playoff quarterfinals, dropped to 1-1-1 this season.
“It was obviously a tough game with the way they play, it was a lot of work,” Healy said.
“The mood is very good after the game. It was more a relief than anything; we’d been waiting on these three points for awhile. It’s nice to jump in the standings. The mood is very good. We’d been expecting this and now we can build off it going forward.”
Fort Wayne FC will return home for its first ever match at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium on May 2. Single-match tickets are on sale to see Fort Wayne FC face the Charlotte Independence at 6411 Bass Road. Also on sale are season tickets and 3- and 6-Match Mini Plans.
Notes: The Fort Wayne FC Starting XI included: Bernd Schipmann, Tiago Dias, JP Jordan, Daniel Oyetunde, Clarence Awoudor, Taig Healy, Michael Rempel, Juan Solis, Ryan Becher, Jack Thomas and Javier Armas. The reserves were: Ian Abbey, Jeremy Garay, Alex Grow, Lilian Ricol, Jayden Smith, Reid Sproat and Trace Terry.
Match photos
Match highlights
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 1-0—1
CHATTANOOGA RED WOLVES SC 0-0—0
April 11, 2026
At CHI Memorial Stadium, East Ridge, Tennessee
Attendance: 1,206
RECORDS: FW 1-2-1; CHA 1-1-1
GOALS: FW—Taig Healy; CHA—None.
ASSISTS: FW—None; CHA–None.
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann, 2; CHA—Jason Smith, 0.
POSSESSION: FW—47%; CHA—53%.
YELLOW CARDS: FW—Juan Solis, Daniel Oyetunde, JP Jordan; Trace Terry, Lilian Ricol; CHA—Matthew Bentley, Tobi Adewale, Eric Kinzner, Scott Mackenzie (head coach), Harry Jolley.
RED CARDS: FW—Trace Terry; CHA—Scott Mackenzie (head coach).
REFEREE: Benjamin Meyer
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 is building a state-of-the-art, soccer-specific stadium, Fort Wayne FC Park, that will open at Bass Road and I-69 in 2026. 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.