Fort Wayne Football Club showed its mettle in a big way Saturday night, netting two late goals to finalize a 2-all draw with FC Naples and secure a crucial point in the standings.
Tiago Dias scored in the 83rd minute from 5 yards out, after a nifty centering pass by Jack Thomas, to begin the Autumn Gold & Black’s comeback.
Ryan Becher then evened the match with a goal from 11 yards out, after JP Jordan fed the ball into the box and an Emerson Nieto header put the ball at Becher’s feet. Becher has been on an absolute tear offensively; he has scored in four straight matches, totaling five goals in the stretch. For the season, Becher has nine goals in 22 USL League One matches and 10 goals in 23 matches overall.
“We knew we could get a result and we got the point, an important point, and now we’re going to focus on the next game and getting three points,” Dias said.
Fort Wayne FC, which has six matches remaining in its first professional season, remains on pace to qualify for the playoffs with the youngest roster in USL League One. At 10-9-7, the Autumn Gold & Black are in the eighth and final playoff slot amid the 17-team table, two points back of seventh-place Spokane Velocity FC and four points ahead of ninth-place Corpus Christi FC.
Fort Wayne FC next plays 2 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Charlotte Independence. Fort Wayne FC then hosts Forward Madison at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, where a crowd of 3,462 was on hand Saturday.
It was the first meeting between the clubs since the season opener March 7, when FC Naples (8-14-4, 14th place) spoiled Fort Wayne FC’s professional debut with a 2-0 victory in Florida.
Things were headed that way Saturday after FC Naples took a 2-0 lead on goals by Julian Cisneros in the 11th minute and Christopher Garcia in the 17th minute. Cisneros’ goal came less than 2 minutes after Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann foiled a penalty kick by Nicolas Likulia, which had been awarded because of a Dias handball.
Schipmann finished with three saves. FC Naples’ Lalo Delgado stopped a whopping 10 shots, the second most ever by a goalkeeper in a USL League One regular season match. The record of 12 was set by Adrían Zendejas of the Charlotte Independence in 2022. Delgado had a nine-save match earlier this season.
“I think we showed a real resilience tonight and a real grit, and I’m proud of that,” said Fort Wayne FC coach Mike Avery, who celebrated his 58th birthday Saturday. “You can be proud of the way we competed without loving the performance sometimes. I told (the players) that that could be a point that gets us (into the playoffs) at the end of the day. When you’ve got to be stacking up points, that’s one that’s going to be important.”
Saturday was also the Birthday Bash of Fort Wayne FC’s mascot, Friendly the Goalrilla, and he was joined by mascots from the area: the TinCaps’ Johnny and Crazy Pinz’s Stryker Bird and Tiki. Fans entering Ruoff Mortgage Stadium signed a birthday card for Friendly, who was presented a cake at halftime.
Match photos
Video highlights
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 0-2-2
FC NAPLES 2-0-2
September 19, 2026
At Ruoff Mortgage Stadium
Attendance: 3462
RECORDS: FW 10-9-7; NAP 8-14-4
GOALS: FW—Tiago Dias, Ryan Becher; NAP—Julian Cisneros, Christopher Garcia.
ASSISTS: FW—Jack Thomas; NAP–Kevin O’Connor, Christopher Garcia.
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann 3; NAP—Edward Delgato 10.
POSSESSION: FW—63.1%; NAP—36.9%.
YELLOW CARDS: FW—Javier Armas, Jack Thomas; NAP—Julian Cisneros, Nicolas Likulia, Luca Mastrantonio, Edward Delgado, Joshua Yoder, Taylor Gray.
RED CARDS: FW—None; NAP—None.
REFEREE: Anthony Sobolevsky.
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.