Spartanburg, S.C. – USC Upstate got a goal in each half and a key save by Jack Rubin on a penalty kick to take a 2-0 victory over Jacksonville Saturday night at County University Soccer Stadium and clinch a spot in the upcoming A-Sun Men’s Soccer Tournament.

Upstate (4-8-1) improved to 2-3-0 with six points in the A-Sun to clinch one of six spots in the A-Sun Tournament. It marks the second appearance in the tournament for the Spartans after making their first trip in 2012. The site of the tournament has yet to be determined and will be played at the No. 1 seed. Jacksonville is 4-11-0 overall and 1-4-0 with three points in the conference and must battle Northern Kentucky for the final A-Sun Tournament spot.

“Quite honestly, after the first 15 minutes we did not play as well tonight. We got away with some things. But, what our team has learned to do is not play well but still win. One of the reasons is that we are able to score goals even when we don’t play well. Sometimes good teams can play poorly and still win. That requires a couple of things, big plays on the defensive end and guys who can score goals,” said Upstate head coach Greg Hooks.

Coming off a two-goal performance last Saturday, Marvin Schmiege didn’t take long to get involved Saturday and gave the Spartans an early lead. After Leon Schwarzer took possession in the middle of the field about 45 yards out, he slid a pass to Schmiege at the top of the box. Schmiege ranged right and fired a shot toward the far post and into the left side of the net to give Upstate a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.

Schmiege’s goal came on Upstate’s first shot of the game and the Spartans remained active early on. They took four shots in the first 15 minutes of the game. However, Jacksonville was able to prevent Upstate from stretching its lead.

Rubin also came up with a pair of solid saves to keep Jacksonville off the board in the first half. He punched out a hard shot from 15 yards out in the third minute and again in the 44^th minute to preserve the shutout in the opening 45 minutes. Upstate held a 5-3 lead in shots heading into the intermission.

Upstate withstood an early attack from Jacksonville to start the second half. The Dolphins had three corner kicks in the first five minutes of the second half. Rubin then made what may be the biggest save of the year. After a Spartan was called for a handball in the box, Jacksonville was awarded a penalty kick. Rubin made a diving to save to his right on the kick from Kacper Grzeszczak in the 51^st minute of play to keep the Spartans ahead, 1-0.

“Saving a penalty kick is not something that you don’t count on and was a big play in the game for us,” said Hooks.

Nine minutes later Upstate senior Matt Flynn, who was honored in a pregame ceremony along with fellow seniors Eli Cothran, Taylor Scalera and Spencer Woodstock on Senior Night, helped give Upstate a 2-0 lead in the 60^th minute. Flynn took the ball down the right side and fed a pass to Heiko Allmendinger, who found open space 10 yards out from the goal. He hammered a shot that glanced off the Dolphin keeper’s hands and into the net for his second goal of the season.

From that point on it was all Upstate as the Spartans maintained their two-goal advantage and went on for the victory, securing its spot in the A-Sun Tournament for the first time since 2012. Thanks to the early second half flurry of shot opportunities, Jacksonville finished the game with a 9-8 lead in shots. However, Rubin was huge for the Spartans and came away with five key saves to earn the shutout and the win.

Follow the Spartans on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.