This Unionville High School Grad May Be the LeBron James of Field Hockey
Unionville High School graduate Erin Matson may very well be the LeBron James of field hockey.
If her sport were as popular as basketball, there’s no doubt that her name would be a household one in this country.
Just 19 years old, Matson recently finished her second season of collegiate field hockey the same way she finished her first – by leading the University of North Carolina to a perfect 23-0 season and a national championship.
The 5-foot-4 forward has tallied a combined 53 goals and 34 assists during her first two seasons with the Tar Heels, who have never lost a game with her in the lineup.
A few years ago, Matson became just the second 16-year-old ever selected to the U.S. Women’s National Team. She has since helped Team USA capture bronze in both the 2017 Pan American Cup and 2019 Pan American Games.
“She’s had the ability to grow into her body, to mature intellectually from a field hockey IQ point of view,” North Carolina coach Karen Shelton said of Matson. “She’s really smart, she’s really fast, physically strong, and technically outstanding. She’s got it all.”
At Unionville, Matson could only play field hockey as a freshman and sophomore, due to her commitments with the national team. She was named the Ches-Mont League Player of the Year as a sophomore.
“When I was younger, I loved to just play,” she said. “And then I realized, ‘Oh, I can make the national team, I can be an Olympian, I can do these things. So then, that’s where, oh, it’s time to get serious, it’s time to put in the extra work at night, stay up late, do workouts, all that stuff.”
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