Fort Wayne Football Club took a significant step toward securing its spot in the USL League One playoffs with a 3-1 win over Corpus Christi FC Wednesday at the Cabaniss Athletic Complex in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Now unbeaten in four matches, Fort Wayne FC (11-9-9, 42 points) extended its lead over now 10th-place Corpus Christi FC (9-11-9, 36 points), snapping the Sharks’ three-match win streak. Fort Wayne FC head coach Mike Avery, who guided the club in its five seasons in League Two as well as its first season in League One, earned his 50th career victory with the win.
Javier Armas scored for Fort Wayne on a blistering shot from outside the 18-yard box in the 33rd minute for his first goal of the season. Four minutes later, Kabiru Gafar gave the visitors a 2-0 lead off an assist from Clarence Awoudor, his third of the year.
“I felt the team played with a lot of courage and ambition,” Armas said. “We looked like a very mature team despite being the youngest in the league. We are very close to our objective and we are going to be unstoppable.”
Tiago Dias extended the lead to three with a headed goal off of a free kick from substitute Jack Thomas in the 79th minute.
FC Naples (11-14-4, 37 points) used a 2-0 home win over the last-place Richmond Kickers to leapfrog Corpus Christi into ninth place. The Sharks will host Naples on Saturday evening. Fort Wayne pulled within four points of seventh-place Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, who lost 3-0 at One Knoxville SC on Wednesday.
Fort Wayne still has three matches remaining, compared to just two for Chattanooga. Spokane Velocity FC sits a point ahead of Chattanooga in sixth, and has five matches left. Fort Wayne will play at league-leading Union Omaha Saturday at 5 p.m.