Decisions, Decisions
MD12 — Forward Madison FC vs Fort Wayne FC — 2026
Match Recap & Analysis
Fort Wayne FC falls behind early in Madison, rides a returning Javier Armas to settle a disjointed midfield, and Ryan Becher heads home the equalizer to push the unbeaten league run to nine on the club’s first national broadcast.
Forward Madison FC 1 – 1 Fort Wayne FC · USL League One 🏟 Breese Stevens Field, Madison, WI 📅 Wednesday, June 17, 2026 ⚽ Joshua Bolma (28’), Ryan Becher (60’) 📋 FWFC Record: 4-2-6 · 18 pts · Matchday 12
The Match
After a 30-minute weather delay, Fort Wayne Football Club kicked off at Breese Stevens Field on the first nationally televised night in club history, and for a long stretch it was the home side that looked the part. Forward Madison lost head coach Matt Glaeser to a red card in the 15th min, after he had a few choice words for the referee following an apparent red card infraction from Tiago Dias that went uncalled. Assistant coach Patrick Nyarko ran the touchline the rest of the way. In the 28th min, Madison’s Joshua Bolma, who was the 4th overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, found Ryan Carmichael’s low cross to finish into the roof of the net. 1-0 Forward Madison.
For the first 60 minutes, Fort Wayne was getting shots off but struggled to turn them into clean chances. That changed when Javier Armas entered the match for Jeremy Garay, his first appearance since an injury at Athletic Club Boise on May 23. On his first touch, from a Michael Rempel throw-in, Armas struck a right-footed curler into the box from 25 yards, and Becher rose at the back post to head home the equalizer. Avery emptied the bench across the closing half hour, Emerson Nieto on for Becher among the changes, but the chances to find a winner came and went.
Bernd Schipmann, back at the ground he called home from 2023 to 2025, made five saves and passed 200 for his League One career, the tenth goalkeeper in league history to reach the mark. The 1-1 result held until the final whistle.
The Defender’s Verdict
The streak reaches nine, tied for the third-longest by a first-year club in League One history, and the honest reading is that we keep escaping with points. By the underlying numbers Madison created the better chances, and Avery said as much afterward, that we were too open at the back.
Our central midfield was disjointed most of the night, and it wasn’t until Javier Armas entered the pitch that we fell into our usual possession-based rhythm. As a player, you look to these types of players to bring a calm to the match, to settle the flow and start playing your best football. He’s a vital player to how Fort Wayne FC wants to play, and we’ve missed his presence in the midfield since his injury.
On the night, Ryan Becher had the most compelling individual performance, yet his best position within this squad is still undetermined. It’s clear he has the individual talent to play multiple positions on the field, but it’s up to the coaching staff to find his best individual position while collectively improving the team around him, and I’m not sure we’ve done this just yet. He can score, he has great hold-up and quick link-up play, and it’s about getting him into the right areas of the pitch to be the most dangerous version of himself. In probably the first dramatic storyline of the season, Avery and his coaching staff still need to address this. Becher has carved out a role on this team without yet claiming a position. That matters for both the player and the team to regularly play with the kind of structured consistency that makes this Fort Wayne squad so difficult to break down. It was too chaotic on the field on the night, and it sounded like Avery knew that as well.
Picking up points on individual quality is a gift. The question is how to keep our most talented players on the field while sharpening the team around them. I think we’ve identified our most talented individuals and, at the same time, have not identified our best formation to play. Or we have. Saturday in Richmond will be another opportunity to find the right starting XI, although it might not be our best starting XI.
Always FWD