RICHMOND, Va. – First-year players Taig Healy and Jack Thomas put on a show Saturday night – each scoring goals set up by the other – and Fort Wayne Football Club kept up its historic run with a 2-0 victory over the Richmond Kickers.
“I love playing with Taig and I think our playing styles complement each other,” Thomas said. “I’m happy we showed that by assisting each other for the respective goals.”
Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann stopped five shots in front of a crowd of 4,019 at City Stadium. It was his fifth clean sheet of his season and the 32nd of his career, putting him in sole possession of third most in USL League One history.
“Tonight, we needed energy from everyone in the squad, and it was great to see the guys deliver,” Fort Wayne FC coach Mike Avery said. “It was a total team win and those are the best kind.”
In its first season of professional soccer, Fort Wayne FC sports an impressive 5-2-6 record in USL League One play, with all but five of those matches coming away from home.
Fort Wayne FC’s 10-match unbeaten streak, during which it’s gone 5-0-5, is tied for the second longest such streak by a first-year team in USL League One history with FC Naples’ 2025 squad. The record of 12 straight matches without a loss by a first-year team was set by Lansing Ignite FC in 2019.
No team in the league this season has mounted an unbeaten streak as long as the Autumn Gold & Black’s.
Fort Wayne FC’s next match will be home at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium on July 4. It’ll be a big night that includes fireworks, giveaways and major surprises. Tickets are on sale now and fans are reminded that parking is prepay only.
“June was a hard month with four away matches and every kind of mishap you might get in summer travel,” Avery said. “We’ve had flight delays, cancellations, mechanical issues – the whole lot of it – and it takes a toll physically and mentally. To wrap up this stretch with a win sends us into the break in a good position in the standings and in a good mood.”
The club sits fifth in the 17-team table.
Fort Wayne FC’s players will take a league-mandated mental health break from Tuesday through Sunday before preparing to take on the Spokane Velocity (6-4-2) on July 4.
“We are looking forward to getting back to Ruoff and playing in front of the best supporters in the league,” Avery said.
Thomas opened the scoring in the 17th minute, his first goal in USL League One play and second of his rookie season. Stationed in the penalty area, he redirected a Healy shot into the top of the net.
In the 20th minute, Schipmann came way out of his net to stop an attempt by Lucca Dourado, who was set up by a high, arcing Sam Layton pass from deep within his own territory.
Thomas sprung Healy for a 2-0 lead in the 39th minute; Thomas’ pass split the defense and Healy netted a shot from 12 yards out. It was Healy’s seventh goal of the USL League One season, and eighth overall. He is third in USL League One goal scoring, two off the pace set by the Charlotte Independence’s Luis Alvarez.
“Getting the first goal in the game was crucial,” Thomas said. “It allowed us to be in control of the game and we knew it was in our hands. So, the two early goals allowed us to manage the game and stay strong defensively.”
Fort Wayne FC was 1-1-2 in June, the only loss coming in 4-2 fashion during a Prinx Tires USL Cup match at Union Omaha on June 6 that didn’t count in the USL League One Standings.
Fort Wayne FC entered the match Saturday coming off a 1-all draw at Forward Madison on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Kickers (3-7-2) hadn’t played since a 1-0 loss to Corpus Christi FC on June 13, and the Kickers are now mired in a 0-4-1 winless stretch.
Last Monday, Richmond’s coach, Darren Sawatzky, the winningest coach in USL League One history with 64 victories, departed to join Sporting Cascades, who will enter the league next season and triggered a buyout clause in Sawatzky’s contract. Brian Ownby, who had been Richmond’s assistant coach, is now leading the club on an interim basis, and the Kickers were unable to solve Fort Wayne FC’s defense, which had 20 of the match’s 29 tackles.
“It was a great performance and win from the boys,” Thomas said. “Three points away from home in this league is a tough ask, and we keep on providing and picking up points on the road. I think it’s a testament to how hard we work as a group and how together we are.”
Match photos
Video recap
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 2-0-2
RICHMOND 0-0-0
June 20, 2026
At City Stadium, Richmond, Va.
Attendance: 4,019
RECORDS: FW 5-2-6; RIC 3-7-2
GOALS: FW—Jack Thomas, Taig Healy; RIC—None.
ASSISTS: FW—Taig Healy, Jack Thomas; RIC–None.
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann 5; RIC—Yann-Alexandre Fillion 2.
POSSESSION: FW—45.4%; RIC—54.6%.
YELLOW CARDS: FW—Tiago Dias, Javier Armas; Jack Thomas, Ryan Becher; RIC—Dakota Barnathan, Austin Amer.
RED CARDS: FW—None; RIC—None.
REFEREE: Lauren Aldrich
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 plays home matches at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, which opened May 2, 2026, and is a soccer-specific venue. 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.