Landenberg native Erin Matson made NCAA history by winning her fifth national NCAA field Hockey championship with the University of North Carolina — including her first as a coach, writes Ben Silver for Main Line Today. 

The 23-year-old added the fifth ring to the collection she started as a player on Sunday in her team’s shootout victory over Northwestern, which secured the program its 11th national championship. 

Matson was pegged by the UNC Tar Heels to be the team’s next head coach just a few weeks after she ended her playing career. 

Pegged as “the Michael Jordan of field hockey,” Matson was a three-time Honda Sports Award winner and, as such, she was an easy choice to fill the shoes of the 10-time title winner Karen Shelton, whom she replaced. 

Matson was just 22 when she took the job and is believed to be the youngest manager coaching Division 1 in NCAA at this time. 

Matson first joined the team in 2018 and ushered in a new era of the program’s dominance after she helped the Tar Heels secure the title that same year. 

Read more about Erin Matson winning her first championship as UNC’s coach in Main Line Today.

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