Fort Wayne Football Club opened Ruoff Mortgage Stadium on Saturday night to much excitement, as local sports fans got their first look at the soccer-specific stadium at 6411 Bass Road and witnessed a 2-2 draw with the Charlotte Independence.
Now, it’s time for Match No. 2 at the venue. The club will play host to the Portland Hearts of Pine at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Buy your tickets at Tickets.FortWayneFC.com.
Parking at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium is prepay only. We ask that you help us preserve a positive matchday experience for all our fans by having your parking pass on your phone and ready to show to gain entry to the lot. It will then be scanned by an attendant once you’ve reached the end of the main entrance drive.
Purchasing parking after you’ve pulled into the lot is prohibited. We’re asking for patrons’ adherence to these guidelines to help expedite getting all our fans into the Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, and we appreciate your help. The lot opens at 5:15 p.m. and we advise arriving early to optimize your visit to our grounds.
If you have questions, please email tickets@fortwaynefc.com.
Stadium gates will open at 6 p.m.
Fort Wayne FC (1-2-2) is undefeated in its last two USL League One matches – including a 1-0 victory over the Charlotte Independence on April 11 – and Portland is 2-1-3.
“It was good to get the point and that game (Saturday) could have gone either way,” said Taig Healy, who scored the first goal in Ruoff Mortgage Stadium history with a fourth-minute header after Tiago Dias headed him a pass across the box.
Jayden Smith also scored for Fort Wayne FC.
“Now we’ve just got to get used to the pitch, get used to the stadium. The support here, for sure, helped us,” Healy said.
Fort Wayne FC hadn’t had a practice at the stadium before Saturday night’s match and there were understandable opening-night jitters, but the club handled it well by surging to 1-0 and 2-1 leads, and it expects to be more comfortable with its surroundings for Wednesday’s match.
“The boys did well with it. The crowd brought a good atmosphere. We didn’t get the result that we wanted, but we can live with the tie,” said Emerson Nieto, a native of Fort Wayne who made his professional debut against Charlotte.
Nieto and Kabiru Gafar were the 14th and 15th players to make their senior-level pro debuts this season for Fort Wayne FC, the youngest club in the league.
To read Fort Wayne FC’s game notes, click here. Portland’s game notes are here.
The Fort Wayne FC Official Matchday Digital Program is available here.
After Wednesday’s match, Fort Wayne FC plays host to Westchester SC on Saturday at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. The opening of the parking lot and gates will remain 5:15 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, for that match, as the finishing touches are put on the largest outdoor stadium in Northeast Indiana.
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.