It was an unforgettable night for the soccer fans in attendance, after Fort Wayne FC opened its first season of professional soccer with five matches on the road.
Healy opened the scoring in the fourth minute, heading the ball inside the left post after Tiago Dias sent a header across the penalty area to set him up for the first goal in the stadium’s history.
After Charlotte’s Christy Manzinga evened the score in the seventh minute, Smith regained the lead for Fort Wayne FC in the 10th minute. Smith slid toward the goal line to touch the ball in, after Charlotte goalkeeper Matt Levy deflected a Lilian Ricol shot toward the right post.
The final goal of the match was scored in the 15th minute by Charlotte’s Enzo Martinez.
Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann stopped five shots. Levy thwarted seven for Charlotte. Both teams are 1-2-2 in USL League One play.
“For me, this night was big,” said Emerson Nieto, a native of Fort Wayne who was added to the roster earlier in the day after training with the club for several weeks. “Growing up, I didn’t have this, this (stadium) wasn’t here. Now me being able to be in this jersey, in this stadium, playing for this club, it’s a big deal and it’s hopefully giving young talent in Fort Wayne that vision that there is a way to play in the pro level here.”
Fort Wayne FC’s majority owner, Mark Music, initially announced on Nov. 4, 2024, his intention to build Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. Once completed, it’ll be the largest outdoor venue in Northeast Indiana with capacity of over 9,200.
Saturday night’s match was played with a reduced capacity and the club, in its first professional season after five at the pre-professional level of USL League Two, will play there again 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against the Portland Hearts of Pine (1-3-3).
“There were some jitters and some excitement with it being our first game here,” said Healy, whose club won its previous USL League One match, 1-0 at the Chattanooga Red Wolves, then had a spirited performance in a 3-1 loss to USL Championship-leading Louisville City FC in a Prinx Tires USL Cup match.
“I think we can learn from it and, obviously, we have a lot of games coming up. It was good to get a point, and that’s two league games in a row that we haven’t lost, and we’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
Match photos
Postgame interviews
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 2-0-2
CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE 2-0-2
May 2, 2026
At Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, Fort Wayne, Indiana
RECORDS: FW 1-2-2; CLT 1-2-2
GOALS: FW— Taig Healy, Jayden Smith; CLT— Christy Manzinga, Enzo Martinez.
ASSISTS: FW—Tiago Diaz; CLT–Joey Skinner, Jon Bakero
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann, 7; CLT— Matthew Levy, 5.
POSSESSION: FW— 48.8%; CLT—51.2%.
YELLOW CARDS: FW— Juan Solis, JP Jordan; CLT— Christy Manzinga, Jon Bakero
RED CARDS: FW—None; CLT—None.
REFEREE: Christopher Caldron
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 on May 2, 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.