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Spartanburg, S.C. - Armed with a two-game winning streak, USC Upstate hits the road for a pair of stiff tests in nationally-ranked Virginia Commonwealth and a tough team in George Washington at the Coastal Carolina Classic Friday and Sunday. Upstate will open the tournament against No. 16 VCU at 5:00 p.m. Friday evening. The Spartans will conclude the tournament Sunday at noon against George Washington.

Fans can follow the action online with live statistical updates available on ccusports.com, the official Athletics website for Coastal Carolina. Game recaps and statistics will be available following the conclusion of each contest on upstatespartans.com, the official Athletics website for Upstate.

Upstate will play VCU and George Washington for the first time in the history of the program when they meet this weekend. Upstate is riding a two-match winning streak after taking a 2-0 victory at Presbyterian College (Sept. 2) and a 1-0 victory over Southern Wesleyan (Sept. 5). VCU is undefeated and stands 4-0-0 after taking wins over Navy, Georgetown, Richmond and Elon. George Washington is 0-1-1 after losing to American and tying Howard.

Looking Back at Southern Wesleyan
Upstate and Southern Wesleyan played in heavy rainfall in the first half of play, sometimes in rain that made it difficult to see the other side of the field clearly. But, when the rain ended at halftime, the Spartans did enough to squeak out a 1-0 victory over the Warriors last Monday night at County University Soccer Stadium. Despite the heavy rain, the field stood up and when the rains stopped, Upstate pushed into the lead. Dylan Hoop, who had an assist and a goal in the 2-0 victory at Presbyterian a week ago, notched the game-winning goal against Southern Wesleyan, flicking a cross into the back of the net in the 80th-minute to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead and, eventually, the match. Upstate was out-shot, 14-10, in the game, but Southern Wesleyan's shots were not solid scoring opportunities.

Scouting Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Commonwealth enters the Coastal Carolina Classic with a 4-0-0 record and armed with a No. 16 national ranking by the NSCAA. The Rams have claimed wins over Navy (4-1), Georgetown (1-0), Richmond (2-1) and Elon (4-0). They have out-scored their opponents 11-2 on the year and have posted 31 points. The Rams were 8-5-6 a year ago.

Yoram Mwila tops VCU in scoring with seven points on three goals and an assist. Jason Johnson and Juan Monge Solano rank second with four points. Johnson has notched two goals, one of which was a game-winning strike, while Monge Solano has also put two shots into the net on the year. Josh Pantazelos leads the defensive effort as the Rams' starting goalkeeper. He has played all 360 minutes and owns a 0.50 goals against average with 15 saves on the year.

Scouting George Washington
George Washington enters the Coastal Carolina Classic with a 0-1-1 record. The Colonials lost a tough match to American (3-2) before taking a tie against Howard (101) in the DC College Cup. They have been out-scored by their opponents 13-7 on the year, having posted seven points on three goals and an assist. The Colonials were 3-15-0 a year ago.

Seth Rudolph leads the GWU attack. He has scored four points on two goals this season. Yoni Berhanu is second with two points on a goal, while Bailey Hinners has the lone assist on the season. Brendan Lafferty has played all 200 minutes in goal for the Colonials. He owns a 1.80 goals against average with six saves on the year.

Hoop-in It Up
Junior College transfer Dylan Hoop has certainly provided some positive moments early in the season for Upstate. He first made his presence felt when he scored two goals, the first and the last, in the Spartans' 5-1 victory over Spartanburg Methodist in the first scrimmage of the year for Upstate. Since the start of the regular season, he has been stellar and instrumental in Upstate's two wins so far on the season.

He was simply solid last Friday, having a say in both of Upstate's goal in the 2-0 victory over Presbyterian College (Sept. 2). He assisted on the game-winning goal by John Kadane, then added an insurance goal in the second half to lead the Spartans to the win. Against Southern Wesleyan (Sept. 5) on Monday, he scored the game's only goal to lift the Spartans to a 1-0 victory over Southern Wesleyan. Hoop has accounted for five of Upstate's nine points on the year.

Foerster Picking Up Where He Left Off
Last year, Timo Foerster topped the Spartans and ranked sixth in the A-Sun with six assists on the year. This season, he has picked up right where he left off. He tops Upstate and ranks second in the A-Sun with two assists. With 13 career assists, he is the career leader at Upstate during the Division I era.

Tracking the One-Goal Games
Upstate has had a tough time dealing with one-goal decisions throughout its Division I era which began in 2007. Just last season, the Spartans dropped six games by a single goal. This season, Upstate is 1-1-0 in one-goal decisions. The Spartans dropped a 2-1 game against Wofford (Aug. 29) to open the season and took a 1-0 victory over Southern Wesleyan (Sept. 5).

Since joining Division I in 2007, Upstate has played 33 matches which were decided by one goal. The Spartans own a 9-24 record in those contests. In 2009 alone, Upstate had 11 games decided by one goal with the Spartans winning four times.