Soccer became
a conference sport in the NEW 8 in 1987. The initial conference tournament
held at Wheaton College was won by Smith College with a 2-1 victory over
Brandeis University. In 1988, Smith defeated Mt. Holyoke College 2-0 to
win their second consecutive championship. MIT won the 1989 tournament with
a 1-0 victory over Smith in the finals. In 1990, Brandeis won their first
conference championship by defeating Mt. Holyoke 3-0. In 1991, Smith captured
their third conference championship with a 3-2 overtime victory over Babson
College. Babson defeated Wellesley College 5-2 in the 1992 tournament to
win their first conference championship. In 1993, Babson repeated as tournament
winner with a 3-2 win over Brandeis. The following year, Babson won their
third consecutive conference title with a 4-2 victory over Smith. In 1995,
Wheaton ended Babson's run and earned their first conference title by defeating
Babson 3-2 on penalty kicks. In 1996, Smith defeated Wellesley 3-0 and won
their fourth conference tournament. Wheaton won their second conference
championship in 1997 with a 2-0 victory over Wellesley. In 1998, the conference
began sponsorship of men's sports and changed the name to the New England
Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. Babson won the first NEWMAC Championship
with a 1-0 victory over Wellesley. In 1999, Wellesley won their first conference
championship by defeating Wheaton 1-0. The following year, Wheaton was named
the NEWMAC Champion after winning the 2000 regular season and went on to
capture an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the tournament
final with a 1-0 victory over Wellesley. In 2001, Wheaton repeated as the
NEWMAC Champion and, after defeating Springfield College 3-1 in the tournament
final, earned the right to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament.
Wheaton captured its third consecutive conference crown with a 5-0 championship
game win over MIT in 2002. In NSCAA's final 2003 poll, Wheaton received
a #1 ranking for the first time in school history, following their victory
at the NEWMAC championship.
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