MIAMI - Senior David Hope (North Tyneside, England) scored twice to lead Florida International past Memphis, 2-0, in Conference USA men's soccer action Sunday afternoon at University Park. 

The win was the second straight for the Golden Panthers, who improved to 6-6-2 on the year and 2-3 in C-USA.  The Tigers fell to 9-5 and 2-3 in conference. 

The two-goal game was Hope's second of the season.  He also had two in a 2-0 win against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 13, and now has seven goals on the season. 

The Golden Panthers got on the board early in just the ninth minute of the match.  Sophomore Oli Birgisson (Akureyri, Iceland) took the ball and ran into space toward the box after a 50-50 header in midfield.  Birgisson then slotted the ball in front of Hope at the top of the penalty area and Hope slipped the ball past the keeper into the lower right corner of the goal. 

Hope netted his second with less than four minutes remaining in the match.  Sophomore Levi Coleman (Broken Arrow, Okla.) took the ball from a Memphis defender and made a run along the left touch line.  Coleman then sent a low cross to sophomore Cory Kendall (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Cooper City), who forced an initial save from Tiger goalkeeper Michael Goodlett before Hope pounced on the rebound to put FIU up 2-0. 

Memphis came close to getting on the board on a couple of occasions.  Golden Panther sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Thomas (Jensen Beach, Fla.) saved an errant headed backpass from going in the net with a diving effort knock the ball away for a corner in the 24^th minute just before the ball would have crossed the line. 

The next best chance for the Tigers came when Kevin Walsh took a 20-yard free kick and forced Thomas to tip the ball over the bar for a corner kick in the 54^th minute. 

Thomas made a game-high four saves for his first win of the year, while Goodlett made three stops for Memphis. 

The Golden Panthers return to action Saturday for a C-USA match at Kentucky at 7 p.m.