Erin Sheila Matson ’22 – Distinguished Young Alumna

This story was originally published on alumni.unc.edu

As soon as Carolina scorched the ball into the net on a penalty shot to break a tie and win the 2023 Women’s Field Hockey National Championship in Erin Matson’s first year as head coach, her players swarmed the field to celebrate. Matson ’22, a field hockey phenom from the moment she first picked up a stick, knew that unbridled joy of winning it all. She took a step onto the field to join her ebullient players, then stopped. This was their moment, not hers. She briefly covered her face with her handsthen sank to a crouch to watch their exuberance from the sidelines.

Matson was in maybe the fourth grade when now-retired UNC field hockey head coach Karen Shelton first saw her play, watching her niece’s team in southeastern Pennsylvania, and recognized a prodigy. “Coaches in all sports look to identify extraordinary talent,” Shelton said. “Erin’s on-the-field expertise and talent was obvious from the get-go.”

Innately gifted, Matson always “played up,” competing on teams with players who were much older. She joined the Indoor National Team when she was 13; her teammates were 30. After her high school graduation ceremony, her parents drove her to the airport so she could fly to Argentina with the U.S. Women’s National Team. She hugged her parents goodbye while her teammates said goodbye to their children.

When it came time to pick a college, Matson chose UNC, a school with a team led by the most decorated head coach in collegiate field hockey. Matson knew she would play high-stakes games in front of packed stands and for national championships. Football and men’s basketball may bring in the money, but women’s teams at Carolina — in field hockey, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, volleyball and others — bring home the trophies.

Matson wrote a to-do list of what she wanted to accomplish by the time she graduated: develop strong friendships, find a major she enjoyed and win a natty. She met all her goals as a freshman, and she still had three years to go (four, as it turned out, due to an additional year of eligibility because of COVID). Now what?

“No matter how ambitious you are or how young you are when you reach your goals, there’s always more to do,” she said. “Let’s set more goals, and do it again, and do it better.”

By the time she graduated, her team had gone undefeated twice and won three national titles. Making herself better made her team better, and she felt a little embarrassed that anytime an award was handed out, she likely won it — all-time ACC leader in points and goals, ACC Tournament MVP twice and NCAA Tournament MVP three times, five times as ACC Player of the Year and first-team All-America, and the first UNC player to win the Honda Sports Award for Field Hockey three times. An ACC Scholar Athlete, she was on the ACC All-Academic Team four times.

When Gary Kayye ’87, an associate professor in the Hussman School of Media and Journalism, heard an ESPN reporter refer to Matson as “the Michael Jordan [’86] of field hockey,” he asked her to be the subject of a personal branding project for a class he taught. Matson, the face of field hockey in the U.S., competed the video interview in one take, answering 23 impromptu questions back-to-back without pause, all while giving a tour of the field hockey office, locker room and field. “She knew her goal and what she needed to do to get there,” Kaye said. “She understood what she wanted to be, what she stood for and what drives her.”

UNC hired Matson, at age 22, to carry on the legacy Shelton had established in 42 years as head coach. Younger than a couple of her players and with no coaching experience, Matson faced doubters. She adopted football coach Bill Belichick’s axiom: “Pressure is a privilege.”

Transitioning from star player to head coach of the No. 1 field hockey team in the country put a target on her back. Doubters took to social media or showed up in barbs from opposing teams. Matson did what she always does during difficult times. She put her head down and dove into the challenges, preparing, working, improving to move her team toward success. She wanted to win, and she knew how. Her players had faith in her, and she in them.

In her first year as head coach, she led her team to capture the ACC and the NCAA national championship titles. In the next two seasons she coached her teams to an ACC championship three-peat.

Others outside the sport took note. Matson has given speeches on high-performance training to executives and has joined the Nike Think Tank. She launched Tiny Heels Turf, a program to inspire youngsters to try field hockey. And she hasn’t closed the door on competing in the 2028 Olympics.

Matson had to make sacrifices along the way. But she never missed life’s big moments. She had planned to be in the wedding of her college roommate and now assistant coach, Romea Riccardo ’23, but the date was set before the field hockey schedule. When the ceremony in Pennsylvania began at 2 p.m., Matson would be coaching an afternoon game in Syracuse. As soon as the game ended, Matson flew to the reception and surprised Riccardo by entering with the rest of the bridal party, doing the TikTok dance she’d learned in 40 seconds.

Once again, Matson in for the win.