Beverly, MA --- No. 12 WPI Men's Soccer saw its 18-match unbeaten streak snapped after Conor Rooney's (Monroe, CT) early goal stood up as host Endicott dealt the Engineers their  first loss in 2024 by a 1-0 score in Hempstead Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Gulls see their record even out at 2-2-1 this season while WPI, which entered the contest ranked No. 12 in the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III Top 25 and tops in Region II, slips to 5-1 on the year.  The Crimson and Gray had gone 13-0-5 since their last setback, nearly a year ago at Amherst.

It was WPI that nearly broke through first after Aaron Vaz (Medford, MA) connected with Fabio Bastida-Andreeu (Logrono, Spain) on a through ball that led to the best look of the afternoon in eighth minute. Bastida-Andree outpaced two defenders and got to a one-on-one opportunity with Endicott's Michael McDonough (Dedham, MA) and slipped a ball past before hitting off the post and bouncing across the box.
 
The hosts were able to piece together a solid strike in transition 10 minutes later as Rooney recorded his first goal of the season in the 18th minute placing his ball just past the outstretched hand of Julian Quaresima (East Meadow, NY) to the far-right bottom corner for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
 
The Crimson and Gray rattled off a pair of shots from Codey Battista (Northbridge, MA) that was steered away by McDonough and Anthony Coutts (Millis, MA) was sailed north of the goal before Vaz had his penalty repelled by McDonough.
 
The attack continued by the Engineers with another shot on frame by Vaz and an Evan Haas (Concord, NH) header that stayed wide as the Crimson and Gray entered the intermission at a 1-0 deficit to the Gulls.
 
Both teams put forward a strong defensive stand as WPI and Endicott exchanged shots that were blocked limiting shots to reaching both keepers. McDonough faced three shots in the second stanza while Quaresima saw a lone strike.   
 
On the day, the Engineers outshot the hosts 21-9 and boasted 7 of the game's 10 shots on goal.  McDonough made six stops on the afternoon while Quaresima was credited with a pair of saves.   WPI took all seven of its corner kicks after intermission and held a 7-4 edge overall in corners.  Vaz paced all players with six shots.
 
Both teams return to action on Tuesday night at 7pm against nationally-ranked opponents.  WPI travels back home to go head-to-head with top-ranked Amherst, while Endicott faces off against No.6 Middlebury.