The stars are aligning for a historic Saturday night at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium.
Fort Wayne Football Club will play host to Forward Madison in a match with huge implications for the upcoming USL League One postseason. Fort Wayne FC (10-9-8) is in the eighth and final playoff spot with only five matches remaining in the regular season – and the Autumn Gold & Black have only a two-point lead over Corpus Christi FC – while Forward Madison (15-7-6) has a playoff berth secured and time remaining to improve or lose its third-place positioning.
In the spotlight will be Fort Wayne FC goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann, who is expected to start – his 100th appearance in a USL League One regular-season match. Tickets are available for the 7:30 p.m. match at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium.
“Obviously, it’s a great feeling,” Schipmann said of reaching his 100th league match in his fourth USL League One season. “Honestly, I can’t believe that I have 100 games in the league already. The time just flies by. If I’m being honest, I’ve been very lucky to stay healthy most of the time and I’m happy to be reaching the 100th game with not a lot of injuries.”
Schipmann credited the amount of work he’s put in on strength and conditioning throughout his career as a key to remaining healthy and being able to play the majority of his teams’ matches. Schipmann spent the last three seasons with Saturday’s opponent, Forward Madison, making for a neat storyline to his 100th match..
“It’s a full circle moment a little bit, but I’m not really thinking about that,” Schipmann said. “My mind is just on making the playoffs and winning games. Fort Wayne is my new home now and I’m focused on going for the win at The Ru.”
Schipmann is featured prominently in the USL League One record book: With 35 shutouts, he ranks third all-time behind Union Omaha’s Rashid Nuhu (47) and FC Naples’ Lalo Delgado (36); with 234 saves, Schipmann ranks 10th in league history, 17 back of Spokane Velocity’s Sean Lewis for ninth place; and Schipmann’s 12 clean sheets in 2023 are the third most ever by a player in a single season, one short of the record shared by Delgado (2023, Northern Colorado) and Dallas Jaye (2019, Greenville).
This season, Schipmann has played in 26 matches and had eight clean sheets, which is the most in the entire league.
His 10 wins rank seventh in the 17-team league, his goals-against average of 1.31 ranks sixth, and he has stopped 63.8% of shots he’s faced. On penalty kicks, opponents are only 1 for 3 against Schipmann this season.
Saturday’s match will be Hospice/Healthcare Night, presented by D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes. Those with hospice/healthcare identification can take advantage of a BOGO (buy one, get one free) ticket offer at the Ruoff Mortgage Stadium Ticket Office only: 12:30-5 p.m. Friday, 12:30 p.m.-end of match Saturday.
While Fort Wayne FC is on the heels of back-to-back draws, 2-all against FC Naples and 1-1 at Charlotte Independence SC, Forward Madison is 1-2-0 in its last three matches.
Click here to read Fort Wayne FC’s media guide heading into Saturday’s match.
Fort Wayne FC has been led offensively by Taig Healy and Ryan Becher, who have 10 and 9 goals respectively in USL League One play, and Becher has totaled five goals in the last five matches – and assisted on Tiago Dias’ goal at Charlotte. Forward Madison’s Ryan Carmichael has 12 goals, tied for the second most in the league this season and two back of Westchester SC’s Conor McGlynn.
Bech is a finalist for USL League One Player of the Month for September. Votes can be made here.
Fort Wayne FC and Forward Madison have met only once before, playing to a 1-all draw in Wisconsin on June 17. In that match, Schipmann became only the 10th goalkeeper in league history to eclipse the 200-save plateau. Becher scored the equalizer for Fort Wayne FC and Joshua Bolma scored for Forward Madison.
After this match, Fort Wayne FC will play at Corpus Christi on Wednesday and at Union Omaha on Oct. 10, before returning to Ruoff Mortgage Stadium for a match Oct. 17 against the Sarasota Paradise.
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.