Â
Hometown: Chadds Ford, PA     Position: Midfielder     Number: 1
Stick:Â TK2.1 Control Bow
College: University of North Carolina     Schedule
Instagram:Â @erin_matson
Â
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Named Head Coach at University of North Carolina
Competed in 79th international cap for US Women’s National Team
Pan American Cup (Santiago, Chile)
Named to US Women’s National Team
Named to the US U-22 Junior Pan American Championship Training Squad
NFHCA First Team All-American
ACC Tournament MVP
ACC Offensive Player of the Year
ACC All-Tournament Team
First Team All-ACC
Honda Sports Award Finalist
All-Merican
Named to the 2019 Pan American Elite Team
FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier (Bhubaneswar, India)
Pan American Games (Bronze - Lima, Peru)
FIH Pro League (9th - worldwide)
Vitality Hockey Women's World Cup (14th - London, England)
Series against The Netherlands (Palo Alto, CA)
Series against Canada (Chula Vista, CA)
Series against Chile (Lancaster, PA)
Series against Argentina (Tucuman, Argentina)
Series against Belgium (Lancaster, PA)
World League Semifinals (Gold - Johannesburg, South Africa)
Pan American Cup (Bronze - Lancaster, PA)
The Hawke's Bay Cup (4th - Hawke's Bay, New Zealand)
World League Final (7th - Auckland, New Zealand)
Series against Ireland (Lancaster, PA)
Named to the US Women's National Team
Recorded first cap on March 31 against Australia
Women's Junior Pan American Games (Silver - Trinidad & Tobago)
Women's Hockey Junior World Cup (8th - Santiago, Chile)
Named to the US U-21 Women's National Team
Named to the US U-19 Women's National Team
U-19 Belgium Tour
Indoor Pan American Games (Bronze - Montevideo, Uruguay)
WNIT Series against Canada
Member of the US Women's National Indoor Team
WNIT Tours in Germany, Canada and Argentina
Â
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA HIGHLIGHTS
Named Head Coach at UNC
Honda Sports Award Winner
Team Captain
ACC Offensive Player of the Week 8/30/22
ACC Offensive Player of the Week 9/26/22
ACC Career Points Leader 10/4/22
NFHCA Coaches D1 National Player of the Week 10/26/22
All ACC First Team
Only 5-Time Conference Player of the Year in any sport in ACC history
ACC Tournament Champion
ACC Offensive Player of the Year
NCAA D1 Tournament Champion
NCAA D1 Tournament Most Outstanding Player
NFHCA South Region First Team
South Region Player of the Year
NFHCA First Team All- American (5x)
NFHCA D1 National Player of the Year (3x)
ACC All-time Leading Scorer
National Leader in Goals per game, points per game
Honda Sports Award Finalist
Ranked 10th in Female Athletes in ACC History
ACC Offensive Player of the Year
First Team All-ACC
All-NCAA Tournament Team
All-NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player
NCAA Division I National Champion
Honda Sports Award Winner
All-South Region First Team
NFHCA South Regional Player of the Year
All-ACC Field Hockey Academic Team
First Team All-Merican
NFHCA Division I National Player of the Year
All-ACC Tournament Team
ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player
First Team All-ACC
ACC Offensive Player of the Year
NCAA Division I National Champion
All-NCAA Tournament Team
All-NCAA Tournament Outstanding Player
All-South Region First Team
NFHCA South Region Player of the Year
Longstreth/NFHCA First Team All-American
NFHCA Division I National Player of the Year
Honda Sport Award Winner
All-ACC Field Hockey Academic Team
Mary Garber Award as the ACC Female Athlete of the Year
First Team All-ACC
ACC Rookie of the Year
ACC Offensive Player of the Year
ACC Champion Tournament Team
NCAA Division I National Champion
All-South Region First Team
First Team All American
Â
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS
I was 6 when I first started playing! My best friend at the time and I went to a day clinic that our moms signed us up for. I immediately fell in love with field hockey even playing on the worst grass imaginable!
I don't know if I have just one! I remember growing up and loving to watch all of the greats because they were so inspiring in their own ways. I think I would have to say that Michael Jordan, Luciana Aymar and Derek Jeter were a few that I looked up to the most.
Eggs, eggs, eggs! I'm a huge breakfast-lover and could eat it for any meal of the day, so I don't think I'll ever be sick of egg whites on an English muffin with some Cholula hot sauce. I also fell in love with crumpets on my first tour in New Zealand and love to have a couple when I get them at the store - lightly toast, spread some jam and almond butter on top, and voila! If you don't know what these are, go get 'em!
Music is another realm where I can never pick a favorite, and it's always changing. It all depends on the mood I'm in that day, so I have a Spotify playlist for literally every occasion - throwbacks, rap, EDM, etc. - and am always prepared for whatever I or anyone else wants to listen to. Still, you can never go wrong with some Big Bootie Mix from Tow Friends on Soundcloud.
Creative, crisp, unselfish.
Mystery Alaska
Iron Man for sure! Another fun fact about me is that I love the Marvel movies. Over the span of a couple months earlier this year, I actually watched the 22 movies that lead up to Avengers: Endgame in order, and it was so cool to see how they all work together. My roommates and boyfriend thought I was crazy. If you have some time and are a movie-lover, I recommend it!
I always knew I wanted to be an Olympian. It's still what motivates and excites me. Off of the hockey pitch, my dream would be to work for Nike or do anything where I'm still surrounded by sports!
The beach is always calling my name. I'm a big Yelp and OpenTable user because I love finding and trying new restaurants - along with cooking my own food! I also love to travel and see new places, whether that's across the world, across the USA, or even just visiting a nearby town I've never been to. A good book is always nice to take my mind off of everything (I recently finished Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey which was amazing!) And of course, nothing is better than being surrounded by and making memories with my family, friends and boyfriend.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love food and trying new, healthy recipes. I'm also a pescatarian, meaning the only meat I eat is fish and other seafood - so lots of salmon, shrimp, grilled calamari and crab! Skinnytaste is one of my favorite websites/cookbooks to visit for inspiration, but I love experimenting.
"The most important thing is to try and inspire others so that they can be great in whatever they want to do." - Kobe Bryant
To appreciate the journey and the little things. My dad always reminds me to not forget to look around and appreciate how beautiful our world is and how lucky we are. I have countless texts from him sending pictures and videos of pretty flowers he saw on a walk, a hummingbird or a chipmunk from our backyard, a street lined with American flags, a beautiful chapel in Argentina, and so many more moments that made him stop and reflect. More often than not at the start of games, I take a moment to look around, remember how lucky I am to play the sport that I love and have so much support, and I also sometimes tell my teammates to take a moment to appreciate it all, too.
I've been to New Zealand three times now, and I fall in love with it more and more every time. It's definitely one of the coolest and most beautiful places I've been. Argentina, London and Chile also have some amazing memories and are so pretty. I've only been to Martha's Vineyard once but want to go back many times more! Same with Boston - my brother's going to Harvard this coming August, so this gives me a huge excuse to pop up there often. Greece and Italy are on my bucket list!
Depends - ice cream cake over normal cake any day, and apple pie will always be the superior pie.
Duh!
Beach alllll the way.
Another hard one! All of the national championships have a special place in my heart for obvious reasons, but the most recent one will always be so memorable because it was at home and such an exciting game. I will also always remember scoring in the World Cup game versus Great Britain and us walking away with a 3-2 win over the host country. The stadium was packed with thousands and thousands of people, and I've never played in such an incredible environment!!
Â