UNC field hockey hires legendary player Erin Matson as head coach a month after her graduation

University of North Carolina field hockey announced Erin Matson, the program’s most accomplished player ever, as its new head coach Tuesday.

Matson is just 22 years old and graduated from UNC in December.

While playing on four NCAA championship teams and five ACC championships and becoming the all-time scoring leader in both ACC history and NCAA tournament play, she earned a degree in advertising and public relations with a minor in coaching education.

The accomplishments don’t stop there. She was named UNC’s team captain three times and has been a member of the U.S. National Team since the age of 17. At the beginning of 2022, she was the top scorer at the Pan American Cup in Chile.

She is replacing Karen Shelton, the winningest coach in the sport's history and the namesake of the team’s home field. She led UNC to 10 NCAA championships and 25 ACC championships, both more than any other school.

After 42 years of leading UNC, she announced her retirement last month. As a player, Shelton was the first to win the Honda Sport Award for Field Hockey three times; Matson became the second.

According to the release, Matson will start her duties “immediately,” and become the fifth head coach in the program’s history. Shelton was 23 when she assumed the role four decades ago.

Matson celebrated her graduation with a heartfelt video farewell.

“This is not a goodbye, it can’t be,” she said. “Chapel Hill is eternal, and always will be. No matter where I go.”

She won’t be going anywhere, it turns out.