Fort Wayne Football Club showed its fortitude on Wednesday night, but it couldn’t secure the result it sought.
The Autumn Gold & Black played almost the entirety of the match a man short, rallied to tie the score in the second half, but lost 2-1 to defending-champion One Knoxville SC.
Kabiru Gafar had Fort Wayne FC’s lone goal, the first of his professional career in an official match. One Knoxville, which also played with 10 men for more than half the match, got goals from Scott McLeod and Abel Caputo.
“I hate the result, but I absolutely love this team and the way they fight for each other and for the club,” said Fort Wayne FC head coach Mike Avery, whose club is in seventh place in the 17-team table. “One Knox is the defending champion and near the top again this year for a reason, as they are very good team, so it was good to see where we stack up. We’ve got a lot of the season left so this wasn’t a final grade, just a progress report. We’ve got some distance to cover to catch the top group, but we are making progress. I’m proud of the boys.”
Fort Wayne FC’s unbeaten streak in USL League One play came to an end at 11 matches, the second longest in history by a first-year club and one short of the record set by Lansing Ignite FC in 2019. It was the first loss for Fort Wayne FC (6-3-6) in league play since March 28 at the New York Cosmos – the third match of the regular season. Fort Wayne FC was 6-0-5 during its unbeaten run.
One Knoxville (10-2-3), which now leads the league standings, is on a six-match unbeaten streak (5-0-1).
An announced crowd of 2,482 was on hand at Covenant Health Park, which is also home to a professional baseball team.
The match couldn’t have started out in much worse fashion for Fort Wayne FC, which lost Javier Armas to a red card just seconds into the night. He was knocked to the ground by Denis Krioutchenkov right off the opening kickoff and Armas’ boot made contact with him high. Krioutchenkov received a yellow card during the incident from referee Corbyn May.
Armas’ red card set a new USL League One record for earliest red card at 1:04. The previous record of 6:26 was held by FC Naples’ Joel Serrano, set in 2025. Mouhamed Dabo of Central Valley Fuego FC was assessed a red card in 2023 at the 8:51 mark.
“Games on the road are always hard, often because the environment away from home presents unique challenges,” Avery said. “Losing a player off the kickoff is unique. I’ve never seen that before. It made the game a strange one from the opening whistle and it stayed that way throughout.”
In the 15th minute Wednesday, Fort Wayne FC’s James Musa suffered an injury and had to leave the match in favor of Juan Solís.
Despite the obstacles of two key early losses, Fort Wayne FC still had chances to score throughout the first half. Neither team got a first-half shot on net, though both had four shots overall, and the drama intensified in the first-half stoppage time when Krioutchenkov was assessed his second yellow card for a hard foul of Michael Rempel – meaning both clubs had to play with only 10 men the rest of the way.
It didn’t shift the momentum in Fort Wayne FC’s direction. Off a corner kick by Teddy Baker, One Knoxville’s McLeod scored the match’s first goal in the 47th minute – and it came on the match’s first shot on target.
In the 53rd minute, Fort Wayne FC’s Taig Healy sent a bending shot from just outside the penalty area and it caromed off the crossbar.
Fort Wayne FC captain Tiago Dias was bloodied in the 59th minute when he was elbowed by John Murphy in front of the Fort Wayne net, but Dias was able to remain in the match.
Gafar evened the score in the 73rd minute by making a run that split the defense, accepting a Healy pass, and sending a low shot past the goalkeeper.
The tied score was short-lived, though, as One Knoxville’s Caputo scored on a volley from just outside the penalty area that caromed off Healy in the 81st minute.
Fort Wayne had some late chances – including a Lilian Ricol strike – during stoppage time but couldn’t solve goalkeeper Johan Garibay, who stopped 2 of 3 shots. Fort Wayne FC’s Bernd Schipmann only faced the two shots on target in a matchup of two of the league’s top-rated keepers.
Fort Wayne FC is back at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium on Saturday for the inaugural John Bellio Tribute Night for the fight against cancer. Bellio, one of the original owners of the club, passed away from the horrible disease in 2025.
For every ticket sold to the match, Fort Wayne Football Club will donate $1 to Northeast Indiana Cancer Services. In addition, Ruoff Mortgage will donate $5,000 for every goal we score.
Tickets for Saturday’s match are on sale now. Fans are reminded that the parking lot is for prepaid customers only.
Fans who cannot attend but still want to donate to the cause: Do so here.
Match photos
Videos
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 0-1-1
ONE KNOXVILLE SC 0-2-2
July 15, 2026
At Covenant Health Park
Attendance: 2,482
RECORDS: FW 6-3-6; KNX 10-2-3
GOALS: FW—Kabiru Gafar; KNX—Scott McLeod, Abel Caputo.
ASSISTS: FW—Taig Healy; KNX– Teddy Baker.
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann 0; KNX—Johan Garibay 2.
POSSESSION: FW—46.6%; KNX—53.4%.
YELLOW CARDS: FW—Keelan Barker, Juan Solis, Lilian Ricol; KNX— Denis Krioutchenkov 2, Real Gill, Kyle Linhares.
RED CARDS: FW—Javier Armas; KNX—Denis Krioutchenkov.
REFEREE: Corbyn May
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.