Let Them Have It
MD4 — Chattanooga Red Wolves SC vs Fort Wayne FC — 2026
Match Recap & Analysis
Fort Wayne Football Club earns its first professional victory with a 1-0 road win at Chattanooga, turning the most possession-averse team in USL League One history into a side that couldn’t figure out what to do with the ball.
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 0 – 1 Fort Wayne FC · USL League One 🏟 CHI Memorial Stadium, East Ridge, TN 📅 Saturday, April 11, 2026 ⚽ Healy (1’) 📋 FWFC Record: 1-2-1 · 4 pts · Matchday 4
The Match
Taig Healy needed 44 seconds. The high press forced a turnover in the final third, and Healy stole the ball, sprinted ten yards, and fired from just outside the penalty area, beating USL League One’s reigning Goalkeeper of the Year. It was the fastest goal in Fort Wayne Football Club’s professional history.
From there, the game plan revealed itself. Head Coach Mike Avery, serving a one-game suspension following a red card at the New York Cosmos in MD3, had designed a shape that defied simple classification. Assistant Coach Keelan Barker managed the bench. The formation shifted constantly: a back four of JP Jordan, Tiago Dias, Juan Solis, and Michael Rempel in defensive phases, with Jordan tucking into midfield when we had the ball and Javier Armas dropping between the center backs. Healy and Jack Thomas pressed high as a pair, suffocating Chattanooga’s build-up before it could reach the double pivot.
It was structured chaos, and it worked. Chattanooga, a team that averaged 35% possession last season, finished with 53% of the ball and had no idea what to do with it. Whatever this inversion was, it feels like it was meant to be. A strategic and tactical masterclass that dared the Red Wolves to play with the ball. That thesis was validated when Scott Mackenzie was sent off in the 60th minute. A frustrated Coach of the Year, against this expansion side that asked more questions than provided answers. The pro and con of a first year team. We had the game tape, and Chattanooga had three matches.
As predicted, this was going to be a physical match. Yellow cards flew from both benches. Red cards followed. We held on with ten men after Trace Terry’s second yellow in the 91st, absorbing everything Chattanooga threw at us. Bernd Schipmann earned the clean sheet, his 28th in USL League One, moving him into sole possession of fourth place on the league’s all-time list. One shot on target, one goal, three points. The coaching staff dared to rethink our Fort Wayne FC identity, and it worked. An exciting and historic match for the club.
The Defender’s Verdict
I don’t know what to call the formation. I watched all ninety-seven minutes and I still can’t diagram it cleanly. Chattanooga couldn’t diagram it either, and they’re the ones who needed to.
This was a coaching masterclass, split between two men. Avery built the game plan during the week. Barker executed it on the night. The result is the first professional victory in Fort Wayne Football Club history, and it came on the road, against last year’s in-season runner-up, against the reigning Coach of the Year. A game to remember.
The tactical concept was beautifully simple: give Chattanooga the ball and watch them drown. This is a team built to counter. They don’t want possession. So we gave it to them, pressed their distribution, and turned every build-up attempt into a problem they hadn’t practiced solving. Healy and Thomas were the engines of that press, two players with the motors to sprint for ninety minutes and the intelligence to know when to trigger. When Healy tired in the 76th, Barker brought on Lilian Ricol to maintain the structure. Smart, decisive management.
JP Jordan was my Man of the Match. It was his first game dedicated to right back but he also played center mid, and destroyer, sometimes in the same phase of play. Solis owned Mercer in the air, neutralizing the one thing Chattanooga’s attack is built around. This matchup was built for Solis. “The Tower” was a key against the Red Wolves. When you decide to bomb it forward as your identity, you would not want to execute that against a 6’8” defender. You’ll lose that bet every time. If we’re keeping with nicknames, our “Matador” Armas was everywhere, including a crucial block around the 37th minute that prevented a near-certain shot on goal. Dias captained the back line with the composure of someone who has been doing this for years, not four matches. He’s been our highest ceiling player from our USL League Two days.
Avery was unavailable for this match. That meant Keelan Barker, who has been with the club since 2020, had to take what the staff built during the last couple of weeks and carry it to the front lines. He read the game the way great coaches read games, with instinct sharpened across years of the sport at every level. College, USL League Two, USL League One. The level changes, but the feel for the moment doesn’t. Barker felt it. He made the right subs at the right times, held the shape when it needed holding, and brought the team home with its first professional win. This match told me more about the ceiling on this coaching staff than the result itself. We have some good ones managing this club.
Fort Wayne soccer is here. Not arriving. Not on the way. Here. We came to East Ridge and let them have it. Possession and a defeat. That first win excitement carries us to our next match, a USL Championship club, and one of the better ones. Let ‘em have it.
Fort Wayne FC’s first professional win is a milestone, not so different than another milestone, the first home match of the club on May 23, 2021. It was played at Bishop Dwenger’s football stadium, Shields Field, a mascot of an angel with a black eye. Something about that image is Fort Wayne FC. From Shields Field to Bishop D’Arcy Stadium at Saint Francis. Two bishops. The City of Churches with the grit to punch first in a fight. Welcome to Fort Wayne soccer.
Always FWD