Fort Wayne FC was victorious in its final friendly of the season, 5-0 over Lansing City Football, in front of a crowd of 1,201 at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium on Saturday night.
Mamadou Diarra scored both goals of the first half, while Andrew Gerber, Hubert Deragon and Amari Fowlkes added goals in the second half.
“I could have scored three goals tonight,” Diarra said with a chuckle, “but I scored two goals and that’s fine. I’ll take it and we’ll just prepare for the next two (USL League Two) games.”
Fort Wayne FC goalkeepers Aurie Briscoe and David Anderson combined for the clean sheet, each making one save per half, as the club dominated in the number of shots on net – 12-2.
“I think we accomplished a lot of things tonight and we’re happy with that,” Fort Wayne FC coach Mike Avery said.
Fort Wayne FC, 7-2-1 in USL League Two play, will continue its league season 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Dayton Dutch Lions (1-6-2).
Fort Wayne FC continues to control its own destiny when it comes to securing the Valley Division title for a third straight year; capturing four or more points in the remaining two matches will guarantee the club the division’s lone playoff spot, regardless of what second-place Lexington SC (7-2-2) does in its remaining match.
After Wednesday’s match, Fort Wayne FC will complete the regular season 7 p.m. Saturday at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium against Kings Hammer FC Cincinnati (2-5-3). It will be Fort Wayne FC’s final match at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium, its home since 2023.
Any playoff matches this season will be at not-yet-announced host sites and next season Fort Wayne FC will move into its new soccer-specific stadium, Fort Wayne FC Park, being built at Bass Road and I-69 for the club’s move to the professional ranks of USL League One. Fort Wayne FC will begin taking deposits on 2026 season tickets July 14.
Saturday was the second of back-to-back friendlies for Fort Wayne FC, which defeated Atlas Fútbol Club’s Sub-23 team 1-0 at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium on June 28. Fort Wayne FC also faced Sueño FC in a season-opening friendly May 11, winning 2-0 at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium.
“It was good to get a game in. We were ready for a game,” Avery said. “It’s been two weeks without a league game and the guys are kind of chomping at the bit to get going to what’s next. I thought you could tell that today; we were pretty good tonight.”
Fort Wayne FC controlled possession throughout the first half Saturday, but the club couldn’t break through until the 35th minute when Diarra took a pass from Muslim Umar and sent it into the back of the net.
Diarra scored from the other side of the box during first-half stoppage time, after a pass from Aboubacar Traore.
In the 52nd minute, Gerber, who joined the club this week, scored with a header off a Gaku Nishimura corner kick.
“It was a first game here, good debut,” said Gerber, who’d previously been with another USL League Two team, Springfield FC, and played last season for the Université de Montréal. “I’m happy to have scored my first goal here and to help get my first clean sheet.”
Deragon scored by redirecting a Virgil Dall’Agnol free kick in the 66th minute, and Fowlkes finished the scoring off an assist from Rood Schnaider Beaubrun in the 86th minute.
Make sure you check out our photo page for more from the match and other matches this season.
About Fort Wayne FC
Fort Wayne FC, founded in 2019, is currently a pre-professional club in USL League Two’s Valley Division in the Central Conference. The club won Valley Division championships in 2023 and 2024. Fort Wayne FC is moving to the professional ranks of USL League One in 2026 at a new state-of-the-art stadium. www.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.
