BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Chris Murray (Canton, Mass.) scored the go-ahead goal off a restart with 8:59 left in regulation as visiting WPI defeated Babson College, 2-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

With its sixth victory in the last seven matches, WPI moved to 13-3-0 overall and 4-2-0 in conference play, clinching a berth in the upcoming league tournament. Babson, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end, drops to 11-5-0 overall and 3-3-0 in the NEWMAC.

Murray's game winner came off a free kick just 3:56 after the Beavers had deadlocked the match. When senior Eric Crevoiserat (Glastonbury, Conn.) was taken down 30 yards from goal. Crevoiserat stopped a quick pass from junior Kurt Naugler (Westford, Mass.) on the restart and Murray hit a rocket that went just inside the right post to give the Engineers a 2-1 lead.

Junior Zach Harmony (Dayton, Ohio) put WPI in front just 5:48 into the contest, getting a touch on a loose ball in the box following a corner kick, for his first goal of the season. Babson held a 10-7 edge in first-half shots, putting four on frame, but trailed by a goal at the half.

Engineers first-year goalkeeper Connor Hoeckele (Granby, Conn.) made a diving save to deny junior Tyler Carlos (Prospect, Conn.) in the 67th minute, and then made a sprawling stop on sophomore Shane Mandel's (Syosset, N.Y.) attempt from 10 yards in the 73rd minute to keep the Green and White off the board.

After being frustrated for much of the afternoon the Beavers finally broke through in the 78th minute. After a foul, Carlos struck a bending free kick that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced straight down across the goal line to level the score at 1-1.

Babson junior goalkeeper Stephen Donato (Morganville, N.J.) made a diving save on a shot by WPI senior Tynan MacLeod (Groton, Mass.) in the 80th minute to keep the game deadlocked prior to Murray's late heroics.

Donato finished with three saves in the final 45 minutes for the Green and White, while junior Tanner Click (Lawrence, Kan.) made one first-half save. Hoeckele turned away nine shots to earn his 13th victory of the year for the Engineers.

The Beavers finished with a 19-13 edge in shots while both teams attempted five corner kicks.

Babson returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Eastern Connecticut State at 2:30 p.m., while WPI will host MIT in its regular-season finale next Saturday at 7 p.m. 

GAME NOTES: The Beavers are now 36-8-2 all-time against the Engineers, and prior to Saturday's loss were unbeaten in their last 13 matches (11-0-2) in the series going back to 2003…Babson is 7-2-0 on the year in games decided by a single goal…the Beavers are 0-3-0 when trailing at halftime and 1-5-0 when allowing two or more goals in a game this fall.