The Winning Recipe
MD7 — Fort Wayne FC vs Westchester SC — 2026
Match Recap & Analysis
The first match Fort Wayne Football Club was supposed to win as the favorite, they did. A Taig Healy goal and a Bernd Schipmann clean sheet seal a 1-0 home win over Westchester SC at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium.
Fort Wayne FC 1 – 0 Westchester SC · USL League One 🏟 Ruoff Mortgage Stadium 📅 May 9, 2026 ⚽ Taig Healy (35’) 📋 FWFC Record: 3-2-2 · 11 pts · Matchday 7
The Match
For most of the match, Fort Wayne Football Club was on its back foot. The extra rest Westchester was afforded coming into this match appeared to favor them against a Fort Wayne side who had a midweek match. For long stretches, Westchester SC was the better side. They built their attack through the middle, finding the feet of their creative midfielders Dean Guezen and Kyle Evans, who put Bernd Schipmann to work. His save in the 29th minute on #9 Koen Blommestijn from point-blank range was another Save of the Week contender, keeping Fort Wayne level for most of the first half.
Six minutes later, Fort Wayne’s center defensive midfielder Jeremy Garay slid a through ball to Michael Rempel overlapping on the left. The left back cut a slow-rolling cross across the eighteen towards the penalty spot. Forward Lilian Ricol drew the Westchester defense to him, let it roll past him to Taig Healy, who finished it with his swinging left boot, smashing it past the right of the goalkeeper. 1-0 Fort Wayne FC. His fourth goal of the year, and now having scored in every home match at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium.
The second half was about keeping Westchester off the scoreboard and Mike Avery used his bench to do it. Javier Armas came on for Emerson Nieto at the half. Kabiru Gafar entered as a pressing forward in place of Daniel Oyetunde. Then Juan Solís and Jayden Smith arrived in the 77th minute as Avery shifted us to a back five to close out the match. Westchester finished with 19 shots. We finished with 3 points. Schipmann picked up his 30th career clean sheet, helping Fort Wayne secure 7 points out of a possible 9 to open the first week at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium.
The Defender’s Verdict
A couple months ago, we were 0-2-1. In fact our Season One preview kicked off with, “Nobody Knows What This Team Is Yet. That’s the Best Part.” Nobody knows what this team is...yet. And for me, a gritty 1-0 win at home, improving our record to 3 wins, 2 losses and 2 ties, proved who this team is now. We have an identity forming, and are finding ways to win. And while Fort Wayne is far from a finished product, it’s encouraging to see what can happen with the right set of ingredients.
Bernd Schipmann is playing up to his USL League One pedigree. He’s been a rock between the sticks since steadying after a slow start. His clean sheet against Westchester was his 30th in USL League One, one shy of Akira Fitzgerald for third all-time. This is the veteran presence needed on this young expansion team, and he’s proving why building a roster with a mix of seasoned professionals is how you win games in this league. The point-blank save on Blommestijn in the 29th minute is the difference between a 1-0 win and a 1-1 draw.
And opposite the veteran leadership, is youthful exuberance. Being fearless, because there’s not enough information to not be. Taig Healy has now scored in four straight USL League One matches. He has scored in every home match at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. At this point in the season, the combination of Healy, our most creative attacking midfielder, alongside Lilian Ricol, our classic center forward, is a starting XI roster lock for head coach Mike Avery. These roles are no longer experimental. They are permanent fixtures until someone else on this team wants them. We’re now past a streak and watching these young professionals develop into talented attacking USL League One players.
The coaching staff continues to impress. Mike Avery and his crew used substitutions wisely and chose to do one thing: protect the lead. Armas at the half. Gafar repurposed as a pressing forward when our energy dropped. Solís and Smith arriving at the 77th to shift us to a back five. Each substitution was a bit more defensive than the last. There was a point in the second half where Avery decided to give Westchester the ball and dared them to beat us. Their away stats have not been pretty. You’d have to go back to June 10th, 2025 to find an away victory for Westchester, and there’s zero doubt our coaching staff knew this. We decided it was a gut-it-out night and managed accordingly. That’s a coaching staff willing to win ugly. Willing to collect points for this squad, even if it means sacrificing a preferred identity, for one that bends, not breaks. It points to a coaching staff that trusts its players, and players who want to play for this coaching staff. Winning is contagious.
The ingredients are clear for this Fort Wayne side: clean, mistake-free defense with a veteran shot stopper. Youthful, energetic pressing and attacking football. And a defined strategy with well-coached soccer tactics from an experienced staff. We know what this team is. And the best part? We’re just getting started.
Always FWD