For the third time in her career, North Carolina’s Erin Matson has been selected as the winner of the Honda Sport Award for Field Hockey, as announced Monday by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).
Matson, who also won in 2019 and 2020, is just the second field hockey player ever to win field hockey’s Honda Award three times. The first to do so was UNC coach Karen Shelton when she was a player at West Chester.
In 2022, her fifth season as a Tar Heel, Matson led Carolina to a 21-0 season, winning the program’s 10th NCAA Championship and 25th Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.
“It’s really hard to put into words how proud I am of Erin and the amazing career she had at UNC,” said Shelton, who recently announced her retirement after 42 seasons.
“To win the Honda Sport Award for a third time is a phenomenal achievement and speaks to her hard work and perseverance, in addition to her outstanding talent and ability. It was really special to watch her evolve over her five years in Chapel Hill – she is a better and more complete player now than she was when she won the Honda Award as a sophomore.”
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 47 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2023 Honda Cup, which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network in June. Matson was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools.
Other finalists for the field hockey honor were Bente Baekers (Northwestern), Sophia Gladieux (Penn State) and Beth Yeager (Princeton).
Matson’s honor is the eighth by a Tar Heel, following Leslie Lyness (1989), Cindy Werley (1996 and 1997), Rachel Dawson (2007), Ashley Hoffman (2018) and her own honors in 2019 and 2020.
During her career, she was a four-time finalist for the award, every year except her freshman season, when Hoffman was the team’s nominee and eventual winner.
Matson, a recent graduate from Chadds Ford, Pa., is a three-time Honda Sport Award winner for field hockey (2019, 2020, 2023) and a four-time finalist. The 2022 NCAA Tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goal in the championship game, Matson was a first-team All-America selection for the fifth time in her career. She also earned National Player of the Year honors from the NFHCA and Bolster Field Hockey.
A five-time ACC Offensive Player of the Year and a five-time All-ACC First-Team honoree, she led UNC and the nation in scoring during the season with 28 goals and 10 assists and is the all-time points and goals leader in Atlantic Coast Conference history.
During the postseason, she became the all-time leader in career points and goals in NCAA Tournament history.
Matson graduated from UNC in December with a degree in PR & Advertising and a minor in Coaching Education. She is a three-time member of the NFHCA National Academic squad and has been named to the ACC All-Academic Team four times. She was the 2021 ACC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year.
“Receiving this award again is another byproduct of how hard the team and I worked this past year and how badly we wanted to undoubtedly be the best,” Matson said. “I’m proud of this team and our coaching staff for making it possible. And there’s no other University that deserves it more. This award is super meaningful to me, and I’m lucky to have an amazing program and school to share it with.”
The CWSA, entering its 47th year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs.
About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility
For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda’s mission is to create products and services that improve the lives of people while conducting its business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Accordingly, Honda believes in helping people reach their life’s potential through its focus on the areas of education, the environment, mobility, traffic safety and community. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.