A Higher Ceiling
MD6 — Fort Wayne FC vs Portland Hearts of Pine — 2026
Match Recap & Analysis
Fort Wayne FC’s first home win at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, a 3-0 result over a 2025 playoff side, was another coaching masterclass in understanding your opponent before the first kick.
Fort Wayne FC 3 – 0 Portland Hearts of Pine · USL League One 🏟 Ruoff Mortgage Stadium 📅 May 6, 2026 ⚽ Lilian Ricol (54’), Lilian Ricol (64’), Taig Healy (70’) 📋 FWFC Record: 2-2-2 · 8 pts · Matchday 6
The Match
Mike Avery and Bobby Murphy played their ideal formations, representing something like a 4-2-3-1 at times, with some custom flexibility to meet the night’s demands.
Avery deployed Jayden Smith, a defender on paper, as a wide attacking player, and JP Jordan, a midfielder on paper, as a right fullback. Both deployed in the preferred zone of Portland’s attacking star, Ollie Wright. The plan was to deny the inverted left winger the inside cut his game depends on. By the 39th minute Wright had been booked for fouling Jordan after losing him to a loose ball. He never recovered his rhythm.
On the other flank, Michael Rempel, one of the better players on the pitch for the night, defended Portland’s other inverted right winger, Jay Tee Kamara, on the inside, challenging Kamara to stay wide and create. Another star attacker put on an island.
Halftime was scoreless, and similar to the Louisville City FC a couple of weeks prior, the Fort Wayne side entered their temporary locker room feeling like they gut punched their opponent, looking for a knockout for the second half.
Lilian Ricol opened the scoring in the 54th minute on a pass from Jayden Smith. Running off the back shoulder of his defender, he found a half space and rifled a shot into the upper right past Hearts goalkeeper Kashope Oladapo. In the 64th, Fort Wayne keeper Bernd Schipmann launched a ball over the entire Portland team; finding an opportunistic Ricol once again running off the back shoulder of Hearts center back Kemali Green. Ricol barely let the ball settle and with a single touch, gently placed it in the lower right corner. 2-0, his second of the night. Minutes later, Taig Healy made it 3-0, winning the ball just outside the box, imposing strength and balance against a Portland defender, and firing a Goal of the Week contender in the upper right corner. A goal that might find its way on a Goal of the Year shortlist.
Done and dusted. Bernd Schipmann keeping the clean sheet after some fabulous saves, and Fort Wayne walk away with their first win at home this season.
The Defender’s Verdict
Mike Avery’s coaching staff is out-preparing opponents. Twice now Fort Wayne FC has beaten teams that have a documented style of play. Both wins came through preparation that could not have been built on game day. Healy’s 44-second goal at Chattanooga was a film-room goal. The shape against Portland was a film-room shape, with Smith and Jordan stacking Wright’s zone, Javier Armas and Emerson Nieto controlling the central battle, and Healy causing chaos in between the lines. It’s a coaching staff that is prepared to surprise you, even if you think you’ve figured it out.
Lilian Ricol is finding another gear. Lone #9s who can press, hold up the ball, and finish get expensive quickly on the open market. Two goals tonight, both finished with the technical quality that should put him in the Player of the Week category. He’s playing his way into the next tier of League One forwards. He’s opportunistic. He’s physical. His workhorse mentality at pressing is the first line of defense for the entire squad. And it’s his final touch, which separates him. Special forwards finish, and Ricol is proving he can do that with limited chances.
Taig Healy’s a gamer. His goal celebration says as much. He has an uncanny knack for finding the goal in big moments. Whatever that “it” factor is on player charts, Healy has “it”. He’s been an invaluable contributor to the attack and there’s always hope Healy can find the goal that matters. This week, he laced one in the upper right corner of the goal. The kind of goal opponents golf clap for as they pick the ball back out of their own net. No one is stopping that goal. A goal with a sense of inevitability that matched the night.
A 3-0 win at home is a complete team win, hitting a new collective stride together. The strategy and preparation from the coaching staff throughout the week, the players’ belief in that system, and the individual performances we’re seeing have elevated this club’s expectations going forward. It wasn’t just a statement win. It was a statement to the league that Fort Wayne isn’t a club, or a city to take lightly in this sport. We’re coming, and Wednesday night’s win might have been the official arrival.
Always FWD