A crowd of 3,755 was at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium for the inaugural John Bellio Tribute Night to Fight Cancer, and the team unveiled a plaque that will be a permanent fixture at the stadium. Bellio’s wife, Terri, along with other family and friends were on the field for the reveal of the plaque.
For every ticket sold, Fort Wayne FC is donating $1 to Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana, in addition to money raised through this link. Also, Ruoff Mortgage is donating $5,000 for every goal scored – and those goals came from Ryan Becher, Lilian Ricol (in highlight-reel fashion) and Kabiru Gafar.
“I’m glad we were able to score some goals and raise some money tonight,” Fort Wayne FC coach Mike Avery said. “It was a good performance from the guys.”
Fort Wayne FC (7-3-6) was playing its third match in the span of eight days, including Wednesday’s 2-1 loss at defending-champion and league-leading One Knoxville SC. The travel had left Fort Wayne FC little time to train, yet it improved its record in its last 13 league matches to 7-1-5.
And this is the Autumn Gold & Black’s first season in professional soccer.
“Tonight was about getting the details right, and the application of the details,” Avery said. “We’ve been talking about it all week: The gap between who we are and who we want to become, that distance is found in the details. So, we’ve just got to keep getting these little details right. We’re closing in on it. I think we’re making progress every day. “
Fort Wayne FC next plays July 25 across the country in Spokane, Washington, against the Spokane Velocity.
Fort Wayne FC’s goalkeeper, Bernd Schipmann, stopped five shots for his league-leading seventh clean sheet of the season.
And the offense was formidable.
Becher’s goal in the 16th minute came on a header, as he redirected a Michael Rempel free kick from just outside the penalty area.
Ricol’s goal in the 35th came from a great distance, about 44 yards out, catching Greenville Triumph goalkeeper Amahl Knight way out of position.
“He was really out off his line and I was thinking, ‘If they give me the ball, I’m going to shoot.’ And that’s what I did,” Ricol said.
It was Ricol’s ninth goal of his first professional season and put him in a tie with fellow rookie Taig Healy for the club’s career goal-scoring record. The record book dates back to 2021, the club’s first season in the pre-professional level of USL League Two, which it left after last season to ascend to pro soccer.
In league play, Healy has eight goals and Ricol seven, and Ricol said the two offensive-minded players have been pushing each other all season long. Healy assisted on Ricol’s goal Saturday.
“I just love scoring and try my best to score all the time,” Ricol said. “Sometimes you can see my frustration when I don’t receive the ball. But I think that’s a good mentality for a striker, to every time want to score. I think it’s pretty good for this moment to be at nine goals. I have to keep going.”
Gafar, one of 16 players to make their professional debuts this season for the Autumn Gold & Black, has now scored in consecutive matches. In total, he has two goals and five assists in all competitions this season. Ricol assisted on his strike Saturday.
Another club record was set Saturday as Johnny Aye, 16, became the youngest player to enter a match for Fort Wayne FC in pro soccer. Aye joined the club on an academy contract on July 11.
Aye, who is from Fort Wayne and heading into his junior year at Northrop High School, was 15 when he entered a Fort Wayne FC friendly last year – making him the youngest in club history to check into a game.
Photos
Videos
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 2-1-3
GREENVILLE TRIUMPH SC FC 0-0-0
July 18, 2026
Attendance: 3,755
At Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, Fort Wayne, Indiana
RECORDS: FW 7-3-6; GVL 4-8-2
GOALS: FW—Ryan Becher, Lilian Ricol, Kabiru Gafar; GVL—None.
ASSISTS: FW—Michael Rempel, Taig Healy; GVL–None.
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann 5; GVL— Amahl Knight 1.
POSSESSION: FW—50.8%; GVL—49.2%.
YELLOW CARDS: FW—Taig Healy, Emerson Nieto, Lilian Ricol; GVL— Mubashir Nour, Lucas Meek, Ivan Agyaakwah.
RED CARDS: FW—None; GVL—None.
REFEREE: Atahan Yaya.
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.