The 'Michael Jordan of field hockey' eyes more UNC titles

BEFORE THE ACC title game on Nov. 8, the two-time defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels run onto the field for warmups. In just under an hour they'll take on Boston College on the freshly watered turf field at host Wake Forest.

Head coach Erin Matson follows her players with a stick in her hand. After running through some drills, she stands off to the side of the field to start her pregame rituals while her staff runs the remaining exercises.

Matson's pregame ritual is the same one she had as a player: 30 pulls, where she quickly drags the ball backward behind her, and a game of "around the world," where she attempts to dribble the ball on every single angle of the head of the stick to see how many times she can consistently maintain contact without dropping the ball. Her record is six times on each side of the stick.

"As a player, it grounded me. It put me in my element," Matson says. She was a player just two seasons ago. "And last year, in my first year, I just did it as a way to deal with the nerves and pressure and everything. It was what I knew when I took the field before a game."

Minutes before the game whistle blows, Matson retreats back to the blocked-off bench area. She rests her arms on the ledge and bows her head. This will be her seventh ACC championship game; her second as a head coach. The team will vie for its eighth consecutive ACC title. She knows what's on the line.

"COACH, I WANT to be head coach after you retire," a 22-year-old Matson, said to Karen Shelton during a phone call in the summer of 2022. "I'm still playing this season. And we're going to win. My plans to apply for the head coaching position won't get in the way of the team. But I want to be head coach."

Shelton, who led the Tar Heels field hockey team for more than four decades, smiled. She'd been waiting for this moment.

For four years, Matson dominated field hockey. With three national titles and two Honda Sport Awards (the Heisman Trophy of field hockey, according to ACC commentator Matt Krause), her legacy among other North Carolina greats like Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm was already secured. As her fifth and final season approached, Matson wanted to avenge the first-round NCAA tournament loss last season to Northwestern. She also wanted to win one more national title for Shelton, whose 42-year career was coming to an end, and take that legacy into a new direction.

Matson texted North Carolina Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham, "Can we set up a meeting?" In his office days later, he told her, "Go win a national championship and then we'll talk."

Three months later, with 1:19 left in the NCAA championship game, Matson got her stick on Paityn Wirth's pass and tipped it into Northwestern's goal for a 2-1 victory and UNC's 10th national title. Matson finished her playing career as the all-time scoring leader in ACC history, and the only athlete in the conference to win Player of the Year recognition five times. Shelton retired a few weeks later. Matson told her teammates she was going to apply for the job.

"She's always been a leader on the team and for all of us," says Romea Riccardo, who played with Matson for five years. "When she told us she was applying, I think some of us had a feeling that it would happen."

She also had the backing of Shelton, who was not a part of the hiring committee. "All throughout her playing career, I knew she'd make a great coach because even as a freshman, her teammates would ask for her help or input," Shelton says. "She had a depth of knowledge of the game. If a teammate wasn't really understanding something that we would go over in our meetings or in film sessions, they would turn to Erin."

With dozens of potential candidates being considered, including highly experienced assistant coaches and top international coaches, Matson leaned on her playing experience at Carolina and laid out an elaborate road map for how she'd tackle the job. She had a first-two-weeks plan, a first-100-day plan, she also prepared potential questions and had her parents and friends run mock interviews. According to a person familiar with the hiring process, it was this preparation that most impressed the committee.

Matson was named head coach on January 31, 2023. At 22, she was the youngest head coach in NCAA DI history. "There's a maturity level to her personality that gives you a sense of confidence," Cunningham said then. "She has a sense of purpose. ... She just is a very thoughtful and very deliberate person that is always prepared."

That fall, with Matson at the helm, the Tar Heels won their 11th NCAA title, a victory that brought widespread media attention - features on SportsCenter, NBC News, the TODAY Show. She walked the red carpet at the ESPYS and has gained upwards of 40,000 new social media followers.

"Everywhere I looked there was a headline that read, 'Youngest head coach makes history' and 'Youngest head coach wins title,'" Matson says now. "I know my age...When I was hired, someone posted on Twitter saying I wasn't even old enough to rent a car. Like, if that's your biggest worry, I think we're going to be just fine."

Matson, now 24 with her team heading into an NCAA semifinal matchup with Saint Joseph's, has a high bar to maintain, especially from the sidelines. "All I can do now is instill confidence in [the players] that what we've been working on and practicing will pay off on the field," she says. "You come here to play because you want to rise to these moments."

Matson knows her teams may not always be competing for a national title. Northwestern defeated the Tar Heels 2-0 in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament. "We weren't quick enough," Matson says. "We might've been a winning team, but that day we didn't win. And I don't like to lose."

She also knows there are more eyes on women's field hockey because of her, and the only way to keep growing this niche sport is to win.

WHEN MATSON WAS preparing for her interview with Cunningham, she cracked open a new Moleskine notebook and wrote down the four points she wanted him to know:

1) I love and understand Carolina.
2) I know my X's and O's better than anyone.
3) I will coach to win.
4) I will recruit the s--t out of this country and have connections overseas.

Matson added a line that she might be young, but she had a maturity in this game and strong connections when it came to recruiting, relating to the players and connecting to the student body. She quickly started to fill the rest of the pages.

Matson has been scripting the dream for most of her life.

"We have her 10-year plan that she wrote in middle school," says her mother, Jill. "And honestly, most of it came true. It was UNC all over it. She said 'This is where I'm going.' And 'This is where I'm playing.' ... She was very intentional with what she wanted and how she was going to get there."

Matson's parents -- Brian, who played baseball in college, and Jill, who played softball and field hockey -- realized their daughter's talent for the game when she first picked up a stick at the age of 6 in Chadd Fords, located in the field hockey hotbed of Pennsylvania.

At 10, Matson joined the state's elite WC Eagles, where she caught Shelton's attention during a game with the coach's niece. "She showed a high level of IQ for the game even at that time," Shelton says. "She was faster than everybody. She could score in close and outside as well. No one was like her."

Matson started receiving interest from colleges at 13, including some of the top programs like North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Boston College, Princeton. She also started garnering a following of younger players who heard about her through the field-hockey club community and social media, many of whom waited after her games for her to sign autographs, and some who would go on to play for her when she became a coach.

Ryleigh Heck, a junior forward for the Tar Heels, grew up watching Matson play as a member of the Eagles club team. "I would always stay and watch her even in practices," Heck says. "She probably had no idea who I was because I was just a little girl hanging around watching her. But I loved watching her play."

The Matsons encouraged their daughter to think about what it means to be in the field-hockey spotlight. "We wanted her to know that when you take on a role like this as an ambassador for a niche sport," Jill says, "that she's got to not only use it and help do her part, but that she was going to be looked at in a different way."

They knew Erin's heart was set on North Carolina, but Brian and Jill encouraged her to go through with the full recruitment process, visit schools and take advantage of the opportunity as the top prospect in the nation.

In the fall of her sophomore year of high school, Duke, UVA and Maryland had joined Matson's list of top schools. But her only unofficial visits were to Duke and North Carolina. On the first morning of her visit to Chapel Hil, Matson went on for a run around campus. When she returned, she told Brian, "Dad, it just feels like home." Matson made her verbal commitment the next day.

She became a member of the U.S. national team at 17, and her fledging fame grew in international circles as she traveled for tournaments, including in the Netherlands, where field hockey's popularity ranks just below soccer. She was the top scorer at the 2022 Pan American Cup in Chile, and became a star of the sport on a global stage. Matson knew the recognition would be important in her first year has head coach.

"Recruiting started right away," Matson says. "I was hired in January, and I had recruiting events start in February. The four commits for [the incoming class in] 2024 were from Coach Shelton. So I had to assure them that they were in good hands, but I also had to start mapping out who I wanted for the next set of classes."

After winning the 2023 title, Matson focused on filling out her roster and replacing top players like Katie Dixon, who will graduate after this season. So far, she's signed four of the top-10 U.S. players and a highly-regarded player from the Netherlands to next year's class.

MATSON, IN SUNGLASSES and a Carolina bomber jacket, walks onto the field at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill. The UNC fight song blasts throughout the stadium speakers, and a unified roar erupts. More than 200 fans start chanting "ERIN MATSON!"

It is October 18, the Tar Heels' field-hockey alumni weekend. Nearly 30 former field-hockey players line up at the front of the stands to cheer on the head coach ahead of the matchup with Wake Forest. It's UNC's first home game in nearly a month.

In the first minute of the game, Heck spins toward the net and launches the ball behind the Wake Forest keeper to score the game's opening goal. Heck, who as a freshman played alongside Matson, says her on-field persona is something she learned from her now-coach.

"I loved her as a player" says Heck, who leads the ACC in assists. "She has the mind of a champion. And even when we played together at Carolina, she would be coaching and leading the team. What I'm doing out here is because of Erin."

Three minutes later, sophomore forward Charly Bruder converts on a corner penalty opportunity and secures a 2-0 lead for the Tar Heels. Bruder finds the net again soon after. In the first half, Heck and Bruder further cement themselves atop the ACC and DI rankings. In the ACC, Bruder and Heck hold the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in shots on goal. Bruder, with an average of 1.30 goals per game, sits at No. 1 in the DI rankings.

The crowd and the Carolina bench scream the loudest in the second half, when senior forward Kennedy Cliggett rushes the ball down the field, outrunning everyone in her path and breaking away to score her first goal of the season. With her team up 4-0, Matson tells her players to keep fighting and "be bold." With seconds remaining in the third quarter, Lisa Slinkert, a senior forward from the Netherlands, receives a pass with her back to the net. In one swift motion, she turns and fires the ball in for a goal. The game ends with a 7-0 victory for the Tar Heels, their fifth shutout of the year. Six players scored, and UNC outshot its opponents 19-7.

From the stands, Shelton recalls a matchup with Wake Forest in the ACC tournament when Matson was an 18-year-old freshman. She rushed to meet a pass from her teammate on a broken corner play. Matson improvised, taking the pass behind her back. Without looking, Matson launched the ball into the back of the net for the first goal of the game.

"It was such an instinctual, world-class goal nobody had seen before," Shelton says. "It was incredible as a freshman. And it was the first of many moments where she truly showed that she was a threat when it came to big goals at big times."

The 2024 Carolina players rush to the stands to meet their family and friends. Matson waits behind talking to her coaching staff -- which includes two assistants who worked under Shelton and one new hire, her former teammate Riccardo. Shelton's history still resonates deeply here, but Matson's team is starting to look more like Matson's team.

"Nothing was just handed to Erin," says Dixon, who played with Matson for three years. "She gets a lot of criticism because she's young. And people believe that she was just handed a roster with good players. But if you don't have a good system in place, a good team culture around those good players then that means nothing.

"She's built on Coach Shelton's foundation, but she's creating new and improved twists on everything. Like, the amount of coaching she does that goes unnoticed. Like, the different corners that we've created. The different things we do during practice, the drills we do to help us prepare for games. That's all Erin. She was just in these high-pressure games. She knows what works and what doesn't."

Minutes later, Matson is near the stands, greeting alumni and taking photos and signing autographs for fans. Young girls waiting with their parents wave for her attention. "Hi guys! How are you? Want a pic?" Matson asks. As soon as she walks away, the girls turned to each other. "I can't believe we met her," says one. Matson spends the next half hour with the crowd. She's been at the stadium for more than 12 hours. "This is what it's all about. I've given so much to the sport. But this sport has given so much to me. And same with Carolina," Matson says. "Now, it's my chance to not only bring awareness to this program, but to bring awareness to our sport. I understand my role in all of this."

While her players mingle at the post-game tailgate with the alumni, parents and friends, Matson sneaks away to her office with her coaching staff to rehash the game. At the tailgates, Coach Shelton made a point to stand up and make a brief speech about the game. Matson continues that tradition. But instead of improvising like Shelton did for most of the post-game speeches, Matson writes down her thoughts.

"Coach laughs at me because she's like, 'Erin, why do you like making a list and notes?' She would just stand up there and kill it," Matson says. "But I do better when I have a plan. And I don't want to forget to mention something or someone. I feel the pressure of those little things. I want it to be perfect for everyone."

Holding a piece of paper, Matson calls the attention of the crowd.

"You know we don't get wrapped up in the record and this and that. Coach Shelton always reminded us, 'The next game is always the most important.' And that's how these Heels roll. But tonight, these guys deserve to feel really good," Matson says.

Cheering erupts again as Matson finishes each sentence. She starts to roll through the highs of the night, starting with her defense and working her way to her offense. Glancing down at her piece of paper, she rattles off names and stats of her players. "Woohoo!" is heard after each name. As the cheering and clapping grows, Matson deepens her voice and gets a little louder before she wraps up her speech.

"You guys celebrate for each other. You want it for each other...it is so unselfish and it's absolutely beautiful, Heels," Matson says, before giving shoutouts to special guests and the alumni at the tailgate.

The next day, just hours after a 3-1 win against Old Dominion, a TV graphic with Matson's photo was shown across millions of screens during the second game of the World Series. Her boyfriend at the time, Dodgers' rookie reliever Ben Casparius, had entered the game, and FOX Sports commentator Joe Davis shared on the broadcast that Casparius said Matson was the "best athlete he's ever seen." (A week before, during the National League Championship Series, Ken Rosenthal told the audience that Matson was the "Michael Jordan of field hockey.")

Matson's cell phone lit up as text messages flooded her inbox. The team's social media staff asked her if she was OK with them sharing the post on the Tar Heels' account.

"I've always had to think about the repercussions of my actions because I was being looked at by so many people because of field hockey," Matson says. "But at the same time, I know I've built a loyal following and brought exposure to this sport by just being myself. Social media is a part of that, right?"

But Matson knows her moves are scruitnized. It's the price of her success at such a young age. "I'm always constantly thinking about, how is this taken by my players? My staff? My recruits? My players' parents? Everyone?"

She tells her staff to hold off on posting the shoutout.

THE WHISTLE BLOWS to start the ACC title game. Matson crouches low to the ground on the edge of the field, her eyes shielded behind her sunglasses.

Riccardo stands just a few feet away. Exchanging words every few plays, the two are in sync, just like when they played together. Riccardo and Matson started at Carolina the same year; Riccardo red-shirted, so Matson coached her in her final season. This summer, when an assistant position became available, Riccardo followed the Matson playbook and applied for the position.

"It just made sense," Riccardo says. "Erin was always coaching on the field, even in our first season together. She was the leader, and Shelton looked towards her for so many things. And I wanted to be a part of what she was building."

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Bruder finds the goal after being set up by fifth year Ciana Riccardo (Romea's sister) and Dixon. Matson nods her head in approval; her players shout their teammate's name.

"TAR ... HEELS ... TAR ... HEELS ..." echoes throughout the stands. Ten minutes later, Carolina scores again. This time, Matson throws her hands up and cheers along.

Ciana Riccardo passes to senior back Kelly Smith. Smith passes left to Bruder, who passes behind her to junior Sietske Brning. The midfielder sends it back to Riccardo, standing just a couple feet from the goal. Riccardo sends the ball straight into the back of the net. The speed and accruacy are too much for the Eagles.

"It's my final ACC championship game, and I hadn't scored all season. And she just looked at me and told me I could do it," Riccardo says about the pep talk Matson gave her before the game. "That's the thing about Erin, she's a person who everyone looks up to. She understands us. She's been in our position. She knows what it feels like to deal with high-pressure situations, what it takes to win. She knew exactly what I needed headed into this game."

After defeating the Eagles 4-1, the Tar Heels secured their eighth straight ACC championship title. "It never gets old, watching them celebrate," Matson says. "They know that this is only one step in the whole path, but it's a big step. And they should feel good about it and celebrate. But this isn't necessarily the trophy they want to be hoisting."