Keeping It Heel
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North Carolina Tar Heels: Things Fans Should Be Thankful For

By Jordan Falls

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 06: The North Carolina Tar Heels wear #24 warmup jerseys to honor former player Walter Davis, who recently died, before the game against the Radford Highlanders at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 06, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 06: The North Carolina Tar Heels wear #24 warmup jerseys to honor former player Walter Davis, who recently died, before the game against the Radford Highlanders at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 06, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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UNC Field Hockey
STORRS, CT – NOVEMBER 20: Erin Matson #1 of University of North Carolina brings the ball forward during 2022 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship game between Northwestern and North Carolina at Sherman Complex on November 20, 2022 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISI Photos/Getty Images). /

Erin Matson

Of course, Erin Matson made this list, and of course, she gave us just another reason to be thankful for her as North Carolina Tar Heels fans just a few days prior to Thanksgiving. Matson arguably belongs on the Mount Rushmore of all-time Tar Heel greats.

During her five-year playing career in Chapel Hill, she won four National Championships and comprised an 89-8 record, including three undefeated seasons. Matson is a proven winner, so when she took over the head coaching role less than two months after winning her final championship, there wasn’t much of a doubt that Matson would be successful at that, too.

In her first year as head coach of the UNC Field Hockey program, Matson led the Tar Heels to an 18-3 overall record, including the National Championship victory last Sunday. She is the youngest coach to win an NCAA National Championship and the first person ever to win consecutive National Championships as a player and coach.

Tar Heel fans can’t help but be thankful and appreciative for the greatness that Matson has brought to Chapel Hill as a player and then followed it up in year one as a head coach. We have no doubt that she will consistently continue to build on the UNC Field Hockey program that legendary coach Karen Shelton built, and we at Keeping It Heel will be forever thankful that Matson is a Tar Heel.

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