Matson Named All-America First Team for Fourth Time

For the fourth year in a row, North Carolina forward Erin Matson has earned first-team All-America honors, as announced on Tuesday by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. Matson is the second player in program history to earn first-team honors four times.

"Becoming the second player in our program to earn first-team All-America honors four times is such a fitting illustration of Erin's career here at UNC," North Carolina coach Karen Shelton said. "She's been outstanding from Day 1 and that has never varied. She gets a lot of credit for her scoring, but she also does so many other things for our team, from making a great pass to set up a teammate to encouraging from the sidelines if she's not in the game. I'm so proud of her continued development and leadership."

Matson, recently named DI National Player of the Year by Bolster Field Hockey, led the nation in scoring in 2021 with 27 goals (1.59 per game) and 64 points (3.76 per game). She missed three games with an injury but still finished a significant margin – four goals and 15 points – ahead of any other player.

In 2021, Matson was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the fourth time in a row and also was the ACC Championship MVP for the second year in a row after leading the Tar Heels to their fifth-consecutive conference title.

Matson is a two-time winner of the Honda Sport Award for Field Hockey. (The honor has not yet been announced for 2021.) During the 2021 season she became the all-time goals leader in ACC history and also became just the 13^th player in DI field hockey history to total 100 career goals. She finished the season with 109 career goals, which ranks eighth all-time in the sport's history.

Kelsey Kolojejchick is UNC's first four-time All-America selection. She played for the Tar Heels 2009-12 and went on to play for the U.S. National Team, competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. She is now an assistant coach at Harvard.

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