CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Fort Wayne Football Club took a big step toward locking up a playoff spot, and Mike Avery got his 50th victory as the club’s head coach, with a 3-1 victory over Corpus Christi FC on Wednesday night.
Javier Armas and Kabiru Gafar scored four minutes apart in the first half to put the Autumn Gold & Black in control of the match. And captain Tiago Dias scored for the third time in four matches – heading in a Jack Thomas free kick in the 79th minute – to cement the victory.
“I felt the team played with a lot of courage and ambition,” Armas said. “We looked like a very mature team despite being the youngest in the league. We are very close to our objective and we are going to be unstoppable.”
With the win, in front of 1,678 spectators at Cabaniss Athletic Complex, Fort Wayne FC remains in control of its playoff fate – and things look bright.
The top eight teams in 17-team USL League One will qualify for the postseason and Fort Wayne FC (11-9-9) is in eighth place with a five-point lead over FC Naples, while Corpus Christi (9-11-9) dropped to 10th place.
Fort Wayne FC trails Chattooga Red Wolves SC by four points for seventh place and the Autumn Gold & Black have played one fewer match.
“This was a big win for us tonight,” Avery said. “It was a very challenging night where we had long travel, short rest, and a well-coached opponent with talented players. We knew we needed big performances and the guys showed up.”
Fort Wayne FC has three matches remaining in the regular season, beginning 5 p.m. Saturday at league-leading Union Omaha (19-6-4), which was idle tonight. Union Omaha defeated the Autumn Gold & Black 4-2 on June 6 in a Prinx Tires USL Cup match at Nebraska and 2-0 at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium in a league match Aug. 1.
“We have no time now to celebrate and we’ve already turned our attention to the next game,” Avery said. “We will travel tomorrow to Omaha and start our preparations for a Union Omaha side that has yet to lose at home. Another big challenge and one that helps us continue to grow into the team we believe we can be.”
Avery is the only head coach Fort Wayne FC has ever known, guiding the club through five seasons in the pre-professional level of USL League Two and winning three division titles while preparing countless players for professional and college careers.
Fort Wayne FC moved up to professional soccer this year, coinciding with the opening of Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, and Avery now has a record of 50-30-22 across all competitions with the club. This season, he’s 11-12-10, including an 11-9-9 record in USL League One play with the youngest team in the league.
Armas began the scoring for Fort Wayne FC with a phenomenal strike from 28 yards out in the 33rd minute. It was his first goal for the Autumn Gold & Black – in his 26th appearance for the club – and it came shortly after Corpus Christi goalkeeper Mason McCready made a breathtaking save on a Ryan Becher redirection from close range.
Gafar made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. A sequence that began with a Bernd Schipmann goal kick ended with a 2-on-1 break and Clarence Awoudor setting up Gafar for the finish. It was Gafar’s 28th match with Fort Wayne FC regardless of competition and his third goal – all coming in league play.
Corpus Christi was familiar territory for some of Fort Wayne FC’s players; Dias and Thomas played for Corpus Christi in the U.S. Open Cup and Emerson Nieto in USL League Two. Thomas, who played for the Lubbock Matadors in USL League Two had a particularly large cheering section in the stands.
Dias scored his fourth goal of the season on a night he tied teammate Reid Sproat, who didn’t make the trip, for most matches played in club history. Dias and Sproat have both appeared in 68 matches, Sproat over five seasons and Dias over four. Dias has played in 31 matches this year with 30 starts.
Schipmann stopped 1 of 2 shots, allowing a goal to Emmanuel Johnson in the 83rd minute, and McCready stopped 1 of 4.
The Oct. 17 match will be Teacher Appreciation Night, presented by Manchester University, and educators and other school employees who provide identification can receive a complimentary ticket at the Ruoff Mortgage Stadium Ticket Office. The Oct. 24 match will be Report Card Night, presented by Parkview Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics Northeast, and kids who bring a report card to the Ticket Office can receive a complimentary ticket.
The Ticket Office is open 12:30-5 p.m. the day before a match, and 12:30 p.m.-end of match on game days.
Fans purchasing at the Ticket Office are reminded that the parking lot requires prepayment at fortwaynefc.com/parking.
Note: Fort Wayne FC was featured prominently in a piece by USL Tactics. Check it out here.
Match photos
Match video
Box score
FORT WAYNE FC 2-1-3
CORPUS CHRISTI FC 0-1-1
October 7, 2026
At Cabaniss Athletic Complex, Corpus Christi, TX
Attendance: 1,678.
RECORDS: FW 11-9-9; CRP 9-11-9.
GOALS: FW—Javier Armas, Kabiru Gafar, Tiago Dias; CRP—Emmanuel Johnson.
ASSISTS: FW—Taig Healy, Clarence Awoudor, Jack Thomas; CRP–None.
SAVES: FW—Bernd Schipmann 1; CRP—Mason McCready 1.
POSSESSION: FW—62.8%; CRP—37.2%
YELLOW CARDS: FW—Aleksandar Vukovic, Ryan Becher, Bernd Schipmann, Emerson Nieto; CRP— Eamon Zayed (Manager), Shannon Gomez, Parker Vasic, Blake Bowen.
RED CARDS: FW—None; CRP—None.
REFEREE: Servando Berna Rico.
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.