WORCESTER, Mass.—Top-seeded WPI outscored No. 15 and second-seeded Babson College 3-2 in penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes of regulation play and 20 minutes of extra time to capture the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer championship Saturday afternoon at H. Carr Field.

Babson, ranked first in latest Region II ranking and 15th nationally, was denied its 11th overall NEWMAC Tournament crown and the chance to be the first team in men's soccer conference history to secure four straight postseason titles. The Beavers are unbeaten in their last 12 outings (6-0-6) and now 11-3-7 overall and await word if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when the selections are announced at 2 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com.

The Engineers are also undefeated in their last 12 matches (8-0-4) and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, which begins next weekend. WPI, which also captured the 2017 conference tournament title on PKs, is now 9-3-7 on the season and was fourth in the most recent NCAA Division III Region II rankings and receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Top 25. 

Senior Joseph Cardaropoli (Longmeadow, Mass.) scored for the Beavers in the first half and classmate Ryan Kim (San Ramon, Calif.) picked up an assist. Sophomore Joao Araujo (Boca Raton, Fla.) and senior Louis Gazo (Colchester, Vt.) converted penalty kicks and junior Walker White (Coral Gables, Fla.) made 11 saves in 110 minutes for the Beavers.

Senior Aaron Vaz (Medford, Mass.) notched a second-half goal for the Engineers to force the extra time. Grad student Francesco Valagussa (Arlington, Mass.), sophomore Tora Ito (Hopkinton, Mass.) and grad student Franco Bazzini (Buenos Aires, Argentina) successfully converted penalties and goalkeeper Ryan Martin (Douglas, Mass.) made five saves in field play and a pair of saves during the PKs.

The visitors struck first, jumping ahead 1-0 in the 25th minute. Kim placed a free kick from 40 yards out into the box, where it bounced around and was collected by Cardarapoli. The senior wiggled through traffic and sent a shot in on the right side for his first goal of the year at 25:04.

WPI got the equalizer about 15 minutes into the second half. Vaz, the tournament Most Outstanding Player, received a pass from grad student Brennan Garcia Hilger (Los Angeles, Calif.) and dribbled around a defender and drilled a shot past goalie at 59:25.  It was the senior's fifth goal of 2023 and he netted both of the Crimson and Gray's goals during the postseason, including the only tally in the Engineers' 1-0 semifinal victory over Coast Guard.

The two overtime sessions were played much more cautiously than the 90 minutes of regulation, which saw 35 total shots (22-13 WPI). Both teams attempted a shot in the first 10 minutes of extra time and the Engineers were credited with all three shots in the second extra frame.

Both teams missed in the first round PKs with both White and Martin coming up with diving saves. The two teams traded makes over the next two rounds with Valagussa and Ito converting for WPI and Araujo and Gazo nailing Babson's tries. Bazzini put WPI ahead 3-2 by connecting on his bid in the fourth round before Martin collected his second stop of PK. The Boynton Hillers had a chance to win on its shot in the fifth round, but the sailed over the crossbar. Babson's try to force extra PKs also went over the bar, sending the WPI players into a frenzy and crowning the Engineers as NEWMAC Tournament champions for the first time since 2017.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 42-9-6 all-time against WPI in a series that dates back to 1974 and are 3-0-4 against the Engineers since 2018.
• All eight NEWMAC post-season games between the two sides have been decided by one goal or penalty kicks.
• The Green and White is unbeaten in its last 11 games versus WPI in Worcester (8-0-3) going back to 2003.
• The Beavers are unbeaten in their last 38 games (35-0-3) when scoring the opening goal of the match.