NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College field hockey team dropped a 6-2 decision to Mount Holyoke, ranked No. 16 in the latest the Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll, on Saturday afternoon in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest.

Mount Holyoke sophomore forward Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa./Westtown School) fueled the offense with two goals and one assist, while senior midfielder Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) chipped in with one goal and one assist. Mount Holyoke also received tallies from junior midfielder Sarah LaQuerre (Old Orchard Beach, Maine/Cheverus), classmate Anna Hartman (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) and first-year midfielder Kathryn Rawson (Old Town, Maine/Old Town) and an assist from senior Allison Slysz (Hatfield, Mass./Smith Academy).

First-year forward Katie Peters (Medway, Mass./Medway) gave Wheaton a 1-0 lead at the 20:51 mark when she split two defenders at the top of the circle and eventually beat Mount Holyoke sophomore goalkeeper Liz DiCesare (Westford, Mass./Bishop Guertin) with a backhander for her sixth goal of the season.

Kilburn found the equalizer for Mount Holyoke two minutes and four seconds later with a well struck shot into the lower left corner of the cage from the right side of the circle to push her season total to 13 tallies on the year.

Wagner followed with back-to-back markers at 25:44 and 32:28, respectively, to give Mount Holyoke a 3-1 differential on the scoreboard. Wagner one-timed a pass from Kilburn for the first strike and followed with a redirection goal near the left post in the 33rd minute after Slysz played a long insert from outside of the circle.

In the second half, sophomore midfielder Amelia Gage (Lebanon, N.H./Lebanon) tipped home a hard pass from classmate Darci Bruce (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) who inserted the ball from the left wing.

Mount Holyoke responded with three-straight goals from Hartman, LaQuerre and Rawson to secure the victory and lock up the No. 2 seed in the NEWMAC Tournament.

Wolters finished with 11 saves in the loss (10-8), while DiCesare stopped four shots in the win (14-2).

Mount Holyoke (15-2, 7-1 NEWMAC) awaits its opponent in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament semifinals, which will be played in Wellesley, Mass. on Saturday, November 8 at a time to be determined later. Wheaton concludes its season at 10-8 overall and 2-6 in the NEWMAC.

Story courtesy of Shawn Medeiros, Wheaton Sports Information Director.