Four-Goal Surge Powers Cosmos Over Fort Wayne
September 5, 2026 Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. Fort Wayne, IN
The New York Cosmos secured a decisive 4-2 away win over Fort Wayne FC at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. This strong performance extended the Cosmos' current unbeaten streak on the road to four matches as they continue their second-half-of-the-season resurgence.
The Cosmos entered the match looking to bounce back from an undeserved 2-1 loss to Sarasota Paradise during the week. The boys in green trotted out a similar lineup, with the only change being Anderson Holt returning to the center of the defense in place of Michael Chilaka. The Cosmos got off to a good start, having the better of the early possession as they looked to continue their recent run on the road, but clear chances were difficult to come by through the opening stages. Fort Wayne managed to settle things down and generate some danger. The first real danger came in the 26th minute as Fort Wayne's Kabiru Gafar did well to get by his man and lay off the ball to Kameron Lacey at the top of the box. Lacey did not take advantage of the clear chance as his right-footed shot went over the bar. In the 31st minute, Taig Healy challenged the Cosmos keeper Javier Garcia with a powerful left-footed shot from the center of the box. Garcia did well with a diving save that prevented the ball from entering the bottom left corner. The Cosmos would weather the storm and find their breakthrough in the 44th minute. Cosmos midfielder Shamit Shome would combine well with Lamin Jawneh in the box. He would lay off the ball to Jawneh and his movement would open space for the attacker. Breaking into the right side of the penalty box to cleanly collect Shome's pass, Jawneh would strike a clinical, left-footed shot from the right side of the box to the left corner past Bernd Schipmann to make it 1-0 for Cosmos. It looked like the Cosmos would go into the half up by one, but they had other ideas. New York would strike again before Fort Wayne could reach the break. In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, an Ajmeer Spengler corner kick would provide the service needed for Jordan Chavez, who found the back of the net on a close-range header to double the advantage and send the Cosmos into halftime leading 2-0.
Davide Corti made one tactical move at the half, taking out right back Nestor Cabrera, who was issued a yellow card in the first half, and replacing him with Michael Chilaka. The Cosmos wasted no time adding to their lead after the restart. In the 47th minute, in a transition moment, Jawneh found Spengler out wide in space. Spengler, who had already picked up his first assist of the night via a corner kick right before the halftime whistle, spotted Fort Wayne's defense caught in a high-pressing, disorganized line as they tried to chase the game. Spotting an opening, he launched a perfectly weighted, diagonal ball over the top of Fort Wayne's defensive shell. Reading the trajectory of Spengler's long ball beautifully, Sebastián Guenzatti timed his run to beat the offside trap and sprinted into the final third completely unmarked. Spengler picked up his second assist of the night, this time setting up Sebastián Guenzatti to make it 3-0. Fort Wayne's goalkeeper, Bernd Schipmann, realized the danger and raced off his line in a desperate attempt to close down the angle or clear the ball at the edge of the box. Guenzatti reached the ball and cleverly poked it past the charging netminder. Fort Wayne defender Reid Sproat scrambled backward in a desperate attempt to chase down the rolling ball, launching into a slide to make a goal-line clearance. However, Guenzatti's strike crossed the line just ahead of the defender's reach to make it 3-0 for the Cosmos. Fort Wayne would not lay down and pressed forward. They responded in the 66th minute when substitute Ryan Becher pulled one back to cut the deficit to two, scoring on a glancing header off a corner kick. The Cosmos would soon after replace Ozzie Ramos, who was on a yellow, with Nick Zielonka.
It wouldn't take Cosmos long to answer the Fort Wayne goal. Rather than dropping into a low defensive shell to protect the lead, Shome helped trigger an immediate counter-pressing sequence, forcing a turnover in the middle. Instead of playing a safe lateral ball to kill time, he aggressively drove the transition forward, collapsing Fort Wayne's retreating and unorganized backline toward the center. As the central defenders committed to stopping Shome's forward run, he waited for the precise time to slip a delicate, targeted final pass through a seam in the defensive line. Lamin Jawneh timed his run to perfection, latching onto Shome's delivery in stride, cutting into the box completely behind the center-backs. Face-to-face with Fort Wayne keeper Bernd Schipmann, Jawneh showed composure, calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net in the 71st minute to seal his brace and give Cosmos a commanding 4-1 lead. With the match in hand, Javier Garcia would make a terrific save on a blistering shot from Daniel Oyetende in stoppage time; however, on the follow-up sequence, Frankie Ljucovic would take down Ryan Becher in the penalty area, and Fort Wayne would be awarded a penalty kick. Clarence Awoudor would convert and cut the lead to 4-2. The Cosmos would make two last substitutes with the match practically over, Nick Mendonca and Davide Galazzini would enter in place of Frankie Ljucovic and the star of the night, Lamin Jawneh. The match would end with another impressive performance on the road by Davide Corti's side.
With the victory, New York recorded a fourth straight positive result on the road and has claimed 11 points in their last six matches. Prior to this, they had obtained 11 points in their first 18 matches. The Cosmos' mid-season signings are clearly having an effect on the squad, while some other players are positively adjusting to new roles and adapting to Corti's style. This is a completely different Cosmos side and a team that cannot be taken lightly by anyone in USL League One.
FORT WAYNE FC 2-4 NEW YORK COSMOS
FORT WAYNE FC (4-4-2): Schipmann; Rempel, Dias, Sproat, Neidlinger; Thomas, Armas, Jordan II, Gafar; Lacey, Healy. Subs: Becher (46′ Lacey), Awoudor (67′ Jordan II), Oyetunde (67′ Gafar), Musa (72′ Dias), Nieto (81′ Armas). Subs not used: Hagaman, Echevarria, Smith, Burns.
NEW YORK COSMOS (4-2-3-1): Garcia; Cabrera, Holt, Chavez, Milovanov; Ramos, Shome; Ljucovic, Spengler, Jawneh; Guenzatti. Subs: Chilaka (46′ Cabrera), Zielonka (67′ Ramos), Galazzini (90’+3 Jawneh), Mendonca (90’+3 Ljucovic). Subs not used: Del Valle, Koffi, Tino Puentes.
Goals: 44′ Jawneh (COS), 45’+2 Chavez (COS), 47′ Guenzatti (COS), 66′ Becher (FW), 71′ Jawneh (COS), 90’+2 pen. Awoudor (FW).
Booked: 21′ Cabrera (COS), 28′ Jordan II (FW), 34′ Ramos (COS), 50′ Rempel (FW), 52′ Chavez (COS), 74′ Armas (FW).
Match Statistics:
Possession: FW 59% - COS 41%
Total Shots: FW 19 - COS 10
Shots on Goal: FW 6 - COS 5
Offsides: FW 2 - COS 0
Fouls Committed: FW 10 - COS 13
Saves: FW 1 - COS 4
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