BROCKPORT, N.Y. (NFHCA) – The Atlantic Coast Conference led the way as the National Field Hockey Coaches Association announced major award winners for the 2020 season Tuesday night.
 
UNC junior forward Erin Matson was recognized as the NFHCA Division I Player of the Year for the second season in a row, while the Tar Heels’ Karen Shelton and her staff were named the NFHCA Division I Coaching Staff of the Year for the third consecutive season. Louisville senior defender Meghan Schneider was recognized as the NFHCA National Scholar of the Year.
 
In addition, 17 ACC players were named NFHCA All-America, including six first-teamers in Matson, Duke’s Darcy Bourne, Boston College’s Margo Carlin, Syracuse’s Charlotte de Vries, UNC’s Amanda Hendry and Louisville’s Mercedes Pastor. Matson and Pastor were honored for the third consecutive year.

Louisville’s Schneider was one of seven ACC players named to the third team.
 
Please see below for the complete roundup from the NFHCA.
 
Repeat for Matson
Erin Matson, junior forward from the University of North Carolina, has been named the NFHCA Division I National Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
 
Matson had another standout season for the 2020 Division I National Champion Tar Heels, earning Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors for the third-consecutive year and accumulating 67 offensive points on 29 goals and 9 assists. She was named the NFHCA South Region Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season and was selected to the NFHCA All-South Region First Team as well as the All-ACC First Team. Matson was a six-time ACC Offensive Player of the Week and a three-time NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week.
 
This year, the Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, native was recognized with her second-consecutive Honda Sport Award for Field Hockey, second-consecutive NCAA Tournament Most-Valuable Player award, and second-consecutive ACC Tournament Most-Valuable Player award. In May, the ACC Network placed Matson on a list of the top-10 ACC female athletes of all time, alongside the likes of Mia Hamm and Dawn Staley.
 
Tar Heel Trifecta
Karen Shelton, Grant Fulton, and Robbert Schenk from the University of North Carolina have been named the NFHCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year for the third-consecutive year.

The UNC coaching staff led their team to a third-consecutive and ninth-overall Division I NCAA National Championship. The Tar Heels won the game in dramatic fashion, defeating the University of Michigan in overtime at Karen Shelton Stadium.

Earlier in the season, Shelton was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year for the 11th time and the Tar Heels secured their 23rd ACC Tournament Championship. The UNC squad finished the season 19-1 overall and 9-1 in conference play, taking the top spot in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll each week this season.

Shelton earned her 701st career win on November 6, 2020, making her the all-time winningest coach in NCAA field hockey history.
This is UNC’s third-consecutive and fifth-overall NFHCA National Coaching Staff of the Year honor. In May, UNC was named the 2020 NFHCA Division I Co-South Region Coaching Staff of the Year — their fourth-consecutive and tenth overall regional honor.
 
Scholarly Schneider
Meghan Schneider, a senior defender from the University of Louisville, has been named this year’s NFHCA Division I National Scholar-Athlete.
 
The NFHCA National Scholar-Athlete honor is presented annually to the Division I All-American who earns the highest cumulative grade-point average through the first semester of the current academic year.
 
Schneider, a 2020 NFHCA Division I Third-Team All-American and First-Team All-West Region selection, had a standout year for the Cards. She posted a goal and seven assists as well as two defensive saves. Schneider co-captained a Louisville squad that secured an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in program history.
 
This biology major and Spanish minor graduated with her undergraduate degree from the University of Louisville’s honors program. She was a four-year NFHCA Scholar of Distinction and four-year NFHCA National Academic Squad honoree. She is the recipient of the University of Louisville Medical Education Research Award, the University of Louisville William Clay Award, and the Harvey B. and Ethel W. Lovell Award. Schneider was also this year’s NCAA Elite 90 Award winner and was a Honda Sport Award finalist.
 
Schneider is the NFHCA’s seventh Division I National Scholar-Athlete and the first student-athlete from Louisville to receive the award.
 
First Team All-America
Darcy Bourne, Duke University
Margo Carlin, Boston College
Charlotte de Vries, Syracuse University
Amanda Hendry, University of North Carolina
Erin Matson, University of North Carolina
Mercedes Pastor, University of Louisville

Second Team All-America
Ali Bitting, University of Louisville
Amber Ezechiels, University of Virginia
Fusine Govaert, Boston College
Eva Smolenaars, University of North Carolina
Eefke van den Nieuwenhof, Syracuse University
 
Third Team All-America
Jonna Kennedy, Boston College
Meike Lanckohr, Wake Forest University
Rachel Robinson, University of Virginia
Meghan Schneider, University of Louisville
Meredith Sholder, University of North Carolina
Elizabeth Warner, Boston College