Lexington, Va. – Rinaldi Alphonse scored the game winner in the first half and Joe Brinckwirth added an insurance goal in the second as the USC Upstate men's soccer team took a 2-0 victory over VMI in the Jay Sculley Memorial Tournament at VMI Friday afternoon.

Upstate improved to 1-1-1 on the year with the win and will finish play in the tournament Sunday afternoon at 12:30 against Liberty. VMI fell to 1-3-0 on the year with the loss.

"It was good to get a win," said Upstate head coach Greg Hooks. "The players have worked hard and, hopefully, we can take some confidence from this and make the strides we need to be where we want to be."

Both Upstate and VMI were active in the first half, combining for 14 shots in the first period. The Spartans were the most active, taking nine shots in the opening half and placing six on goal. After taking three shots early in the half, Upstate jumped on the scoreboard in the 11^th minute.

Alphonse took a shot that was saved by VMI keeper Zach Kaplan. However, Kaplan couldn't corral the shot and it went over the end line to give the Spartans a corner kick. Matt Flynn took the kick and sent a cross into the box. After the ball bounced off a VMI defender, Josh Jenkins played the ball off to Alphonse who put the shot away to lift the Spartans into the lead.

Upstate goalkeeper Hassan Haddad came up with two saves against five VMI shots in the first half. Kaplan made five saves on nine Upstate shots.

The number 13 was not unlucky for Upstate as the Spartans' 13^th shot found the back of the net in the 58^th minute. Heiko Allmendinger began the action that resulted in the second goal of the game for the Spartans when his shot was blocked by the VMI defense. Upstate maintained possession and Marvin Schmiege and Lukas Sommer combined to find Brinckwirth in the box. Brinckwirth fired a shot into the back of the net to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.

Upstate didn't let up after Brinckwirth's goal. The Spartans added another seven shots the rest of the half. Although they did not find the back of the net again, the pressure was enough for Upstate to limit the amount of chances for VMI. Upstate finished the game with a 20-12 lead in shots for the game, 11-7 in the second half. The 20 shots were a season high for the Spartans.

Haddad finished the game with two saves, both coming in the first half, to earn the first shutout of the season for Upstate. Brinckwirth led the Spartans with six shots in the game, while Leon Schwarzer added four. Upstate has scored five goals this season with five different Spartans scoring a goal on the season.

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