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Spartanburg, S.C. - With a postseason appearance on the line, you can only ask that your fate is in your own hands and not that of someone else. For the USC Upstate men's soccer team, its hope of appearing in the A-Sun Tournament rests solely in its own hands. A win or a tie will send the Spartans into the six-team A-Sun Tournament being played at ETSU Nov. 9-13. A loss will leave the Spartans at home.

While Jacksonville, Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson have already clinched three of the six spots in the A-Sun Tournament, there are five teams vying for three positions. Lipscomb, which Upstate defeated 3-1 on Sept. 30, is fourth in the league standings with nine points. Upstate and Belmont, which the Spartans tied on Oct. 2, each have eight points and are tied for fifth. Mercer and ETSU are tied for seventh with seven points. Mercer and Lipscomb face each other Thursday night, kicking off a wild weekend that will culminate with the final regular season matches on Sunday which will determine the six-team A-Sun Tournament field.

Upstate enters the weekend with a 5-7-2 overall record and a 2-3-2 mark in the A-Sun. After starting the season 4-3-1, the Spartans are just 1-3-2 in their last six matches. However, two of the losses have come by just a single goal against Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson, two teams that have already clinched spots in the A-Sun Tournament. ETSU stands 8-5-3 overall and 2-4-1 in the conference. The Buccaneers are coming off a 1-1 tie of Clemson. Upstate is 0-2-1 all-time against ETSU in a series that dates back to the 2008 season, ETSU's first year of playing men's soccer.

Fans can follow the action online in a variety of ways. Live statistical updates can be accessed through the official ETSU Athletics website at etsubucs.com, while a complete game recap and final stats will be available on upstatespartans.com.

Looking Back at Mercer
Despite the teams combining for 40 shots and the Spartans pinging the post on four occasions, Upstate and Mercer battled to a scoreless tie last week in Macon. The tie gave Upstate eight points in the A-Sun standings and kept the Spartans ahead of the Bears in the standings. It was a tale of two halves as Mercer out-shot Upstate 13-4 in the first half, while the Spartans held a 12-5 advantage in the second half. It was in the second half when the Spartans turned the tide offensively and hit the post on three occasions. Another shot was saved by a Mercer defender. Despite the offensive surge, the game went into overtime and neither team could find the back of the net with the game ending in a tie. Upstate goalkeeper Jason McCabe continued a strong season in goal and finished with seven saves in recording his sixth shutout of the season.

Scouting ETSU
After opening the season with a 3-0 record, ETSU secured a top 25 national ranking by Goal.com and received votes in both the NSCAA/adidas and SoccerTimes.com top 25 polls. However, the Bucs have been an up and down team since, picking up key wins and taking tough losses. Still, the Bucs are one of the most dangerous teams in the A-Sun and would be a serious threat to win the A-Sun Tournament if they can find a way into the event which it is hosting Nov. 9-13.

ETSU enters the weekend with an 8-5-3 overall record and a 2-4-1 mark with seven points in the A-Sun. The Bucs stand tied with Mercer for seventh in the A-Sun standings and need a win over the Spartans to ensure itself of a spot in the A-Sun Tournament. ETSU has fared much better out of conference than in the A-Sun, picking up wins over nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro and William & Mary, as well as Virginia Tech, which defeated #4 North Carolina and Furman, which was nationally-ranked earlier in the season. ETSU is coming off of a tie against Clemson. In the A-Sun, ETSU has defeated North Florida and Florida Gulf Coast, tied Stetson and dropped games to Belmont, Lipscomb, Jacksonville and Mercer.

David Geno and Aaron Schoenfeld form a potent scoring one-two punch for ETSU. Geno tops the club with 16 points on seven goals and two assists. He ranks fourth in the conference in scoring and goals. Schoenfeld ranks second on the team with 15 points on six goals and three assists. In all, 11 different Buccaneers have scored on the year. Defensively, Ryan Coulter has played every minute in goal and owns a 1.06 goals against average with 58 saves on the year.

Looking Back at 2010
ETSU scored two goals in the first half to open a 2-0 lead at halftime. Upstate cut into the deficit when Jan Wienholt scored in the 66th-minute, but the Bucs rattled off two more scores to take a 4-1 victory over the Spartans in the regular season finale at County University Soccer Stadium.

Postseason Up for Grabs
When Upstate takes the field at ETSU on Saturday, it will have its postseason lives in its own hands. A win or a tie will get the Spartans into the six-team A-Sun Tournament Nov. 9-13 at ETSU. The Spartans are currently tied with Belmont for fifth in the league standings with eight points. A tie would keep ETSU behind the Spartans and Upstate owns the tiebreaker with both Mercer and Lipscomb if it were to be tied with those two schools at nine points. Mercer faces both Lipscomb and Belmont this weekend and the results of those two matches will automatically eliminate either Belmont, Lipscomb or Mercer from playoff contention in the event of an Upstate tie. The Spartans own the tiebreaker in a three-way tie with Belmont and Lipscomb. A win at ETSU on Saturday would ensure the Spartans of a tournament berth.

McCabe Ranks Fourth in the Nation
Senior goalkeeper Jason McCabe has turned in his top season in goal for the Spartans in 2011. A three-year starter between the posts, he has simply been dominant this season. He currently ranks fourth in the nation with 84 total saves and sixth with 6.0 saves per game. His .832 save percentage is 18th. He leads the A-Sun in all three categories and ranks third with six shutouts, a single-season Division I school record.

As a team, Upstate also ranks among the nation's best in several categories, and McCabe has been a huge factor. The Spartans are sixth in the country with 6.4 saves per game, 14th with an .841 save percentage and 40th with a 0.43 shutout percentage.

Hooks Reaches 200 Career Upstate Wins
In his 17th year as head coach of the Upstate men's soccer team, Greg Hooks not only has a wealth of experience, but a long list of accomplishments. He added to that list on Oct. 9 when he won his 200th game on the sidelines at Upstate. The Spartans took a 2-0 victory at North Florida to secure win No. 200 at Upstate for Hooks. Hooks has won 287 games in his 24 years as a head coach at Spartanburg Methodist, Lees-McRae, University of Charleston (W.Va.) and Upstate.

McCabe Closing Out Strong Career
Jason McCabe is a fifth-year senior who has played every second in goal for the Spartans this season. He has done so while having a career year. He is winding down a career that has seen him as the primary starter in three seasons and having to sit out a year dealing with a health issue with his heart resulting in surgery. He started as a freshman in 2007, played sparingly behind all-conference performer Pat Regna in 2008, sat out the 2009 season while dealing with his health issues and returned to the pitch as the starter in both 2010 and 2011. He is the leading goalkeeper during the Spartans' Division I era, topping the club with nine wins, five ties, 242 saves, a 1.73 goals against average, 47 games played, 44 games started and 4,160 minutes. Overall, he ranks third all-time with 242 saves and 4,160 minutes played, eighth with eight shutouts and ninth with a 1.73 goals against average.

Kadane Makes Most of His Chances
Junior defender John Kadane certainly is a leader in the back for the Spartans. However, he is also a scoring threat for Upstate, making the most of his scoring opportunities. Though he has taken just eight shots on the year, mostly in set pieces on corner kicks, he has scored two goals and ranks third on the team with four points. Both of his goals have been match winners against Presbyterian (Sept. 2) and North Florida (Oct. 9).

Tossing A Shutout
Perhaps one of the biggest stories of the season is Upstate's ability to record a shutout. Through 14 games, the Spartans have tallied six shutouts to rank third in the A-Sun. Prior to this season, Upstate recorded three shutouts in four season since moving to Division I in 2007. The Spartans did not record a shutout in 2007 and 2008, tallied one in 2009 and two last season.