SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was edged by host Mount Holyoke College this evening, 1-0, in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at the MHC Turf and Track Complex in South Hadley, Mass. The Lyons fall to 8-9 overall and 4-4 in league play, while MHC improved to 4-9 and 3-5.

Wheaton will be in action again on Tuesday, November 2 with a NEWMAC Championship Tournament First Round contest. The Lyons' seed and the location of the match will be determined by the outcome of tomorrow's Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Worcester Polytechnic Institute contest. The result marked the first time all season that Wheaton surrendered just one goal and was on the losing end.

Mount Holyoke held margins in both shots (10-8) and penalty corners (4-3) for the match. 

First-year Gracie Wilkinson (Amherst, Mass.) scored the lone goal of the game for MHC. 

Rachel Katzenberg (Reistertown, Md.) posted four saves and earned her first-career shutout for Mount Holyoke. Her counterpart, sophomore keeper Emma Lapreziosa (Bowdoinham, Maine), made one stop and shouldered the loss.

Wheaton controlled most of the possession to open the game and had arguably their best chance at a goal when junior midfielder Sophie Shekarchi (Jamestown, R.I.) carried the ball along the right side of the goal before getting a pair of point-blank chances, but Katzenberg was up to the challenge and stuffed Shekarchi along the near-side post to keep the game scoreless.

MHC was granted a penalty corner in the early stages of the second quarter as Margaret Robb (Summit, N.J.) sent in the pass to a waiting Phoebe Aaronson (Mountain View, Calif.) at the top of the arch. The senior controlled the ball and ripped a shot at the cage which was tipped by Gracie Wilkinson (Amherst, Mass.) into the back of the goal to make it 1-0 for the home team, with 14:13 to play in the first half.

Mount Holyoke received another penalty corner with 5:32 to play in the second half, which resulted in a shot on goal from Aaronson, but Lapreziosa stood strong and kept it a one-goal game at the halftime break.

Wheaton earned a penalty corner with 4:59 remaining in the third quarter, which was played in by junior back Bridget Healy (Holyoke, Mass.), finding the stick of senior defender Becca Harmon (Farmington, Maine). Harmon then ripped a shot at the goal, which was blocked and cleared by the MHC defense.

The fourth quarter was full of back-and-forth action as Wheaton had an early penalty corner that resulted in a shot wide from Harmon, before Mount Holyoke was awarded a pair with less than 10 minutes remaining that also ended up cleared. 

Despite a late Wheaton rally, Mount Holyoke College was able to hold on for the victory.