Springfield, MA --- WPI men's soccer dropped its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest of the season at Springfield as they hosts recorded two first half goals for the win on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the setback, WPI drops to 8-3-4 overall with a 0-1-4 mark in NEWMAC action as Springfield advances to 5-6-2 and 3-1 in conference play.
 
The hosting Pride got off to a hot start with a pair of first half goals over the visiting Engineers. Parker Thornton (Malden, MA) recorded his first assist of the day with a cross in the box that was finished by Connor Policarpio (Bristol, CT) for the go-ahead goal in the 14^th minute of play despite the visitors recording a 7-4 advantage in shots in the first half of action.
 
Cole Sampson (Hingham, MA) extended the lead on the afternoon in Springfield with his second goal of the fall with a dish from Thornton for his second assist of the day at Brock-Affeck Field for a 2-0 advantage heading into the break.
 
WPI continued to strike and test Connor Pote (Washington, CT) as the Engineers outshot the hosts 12-4 in the final 45 minutes of play before Fabio Bastida-Andreu (Logrono, Spain) collected a ball from a long throw-in and  connected with Aidan McLoughlin (Colchester, CT) who found the back of the net for his third goal of the 2024 campaign in the 65^th minute. The Crimson and Gray recorded four final strikes but were kept clear by Springfield's Pote for the 2-1 result on Saturday afternoon.
 
Both squads return to play on Wednesday as WPI hosts Clark in a cross-city and NEWMAC match at 7pm as Springfield travels to Babson for a tilt at 3pm.