James Musa scored his first goal in a Fort Wayne Football Club uniform. Ryan Becher netted his fourth goal in the last three matches.
But Fort Wayne FC lost 3-2 to defending-champion One Knoxville SC on Wednesday night at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium.
One Knoxville scored three unanswered goals in the second half to secure the victory with Mouhamed Diop scoring on a header in the 73rd minute, Teddy Baker following suit with a 9-yard shot in the 74th minute, and Denis Krioutchenkov netting the winner on a 15-yard shot in the 88th minute.
For Fort Wayne FC, in its first season of professional soccer and with the youngest roster in the league, the night was a learning experience as the club continues to chase a playoff spot.
“They’re a championship team and it had a playoff feel to the game,” Fort Wayne FC head coach Mike Avery said. “It hurts a lot tonight, but the fortunate part of it for us is you sort of get a playoff game outside of the playoffs. We’ll have to learn how to manage some things better. Obviously, you can’t go up two goals at home and give it away. But you have to give (One Knoxville) credit tonight; they made good subs and good changes and you tip your cap to them and hopefully we can see them again sometime.”
With seven matches remaining in the regular season – beginning 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium against FC Naples – Fort Wayne FC (10-9-6) is in the eighth and final playoff spot among the 17-team USL League One table.
Only 11 points separate fourth place and a potential home match – that spot is occupied right now by One Knoxville (13-5-8) – and eighth place in which the Autumn Gold & Black reside. Fort Wayne FC is three points ahead of ninth-place Corpus Christi FC with a game in hand.
While One Knoxville swept the season series with Fort Wayne FC, the Autumn Gold & Black certainly gave the defending champions all they could handle. Fort Wayne FC lost 2-1 in Tennessee on July 15 despite playing almost the entire match a man short because of a Javier Armas red card at the opening kickoff.
On Wednesday, Musa wore the captain’s armband because Tiago Dias was serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. In his 17th match with the club across all competitions, Musa opened the scoring in the ninth minute when he got to the rebound of a long-range Taig Healy shot – it was from the opposite sideline – that caromed off the goalpost.
Becher scored in the 39th minute from 8 yards out, after Healy dribbled through traffic and sent him a touch pass. Becher has nine goals in 22 matches regardless of competition. That includes eight goals in league play.
“I thought we were fantastic early on and they were good at the end. I don’t know what else to say except we’re just going to get back to work tomorrow and try to get something out of Saturday’s match,” Avery said.
Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann stopped 3 of 6 shots in front of 2,829 fans. One Knoxville’s Jonathan Burke stopped 3 of 5.
Match photos
Videos
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 2-0-2
ONE KNOXVILLE 0-3-3
September 16, 2026
At Ruoff Mortgage Stadium
Attendance: 2,829
RECORDS: FW 10-9-6; KNX 13-5-8
GOALS: FW—James Musa, Ryan Becher; KNX—Mouhamed Diop, Teddy Baker, Denis Krioutchenkov.
ASSISTS: FW—None; KNX–Real Gill, Denis Krioutchenkov, Mikkel Gøling.
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann 3; KNX— Jonathan Burke 3.
POSSESSION: FW—47.9%; KNX—52.1%
YELLOW CARDS: FW—James Musa; KNX—Beckham Udertiz, Abel Caputo, William Perkins, Real Gill, Denis Krioutchenkov.
RED CARDS: FW—None; KNX—None.
REFEREE: Jose Lara.
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.