Princeton University Athletics
Falling Into Place
October 20, 2000 | Field Hockey
Picture this, and it shouldn't be hard to do: Princeton field hockey at the top of its game. Highly skilled players, fast as lightning, driven by success.
Now, picture this: All of the aforementioned qualities of the Tiger field hockey program without team leader and tri-captain Hilary Matson. It was almost a reality.
Matson began playing field hockey in the seventh grade in a small town in upstate New York and continued throughout her high school days. She initially started playing because her older sister had participated. Field hockey was all she knew, not to mention that the options were limited in such a small town. Matson's graduating high school class was made up of 55 peers. Too many athletic programs would have a hard time thriving with so few people to fill them, so the only other fall sport she could have competed in was cross country.
"There was no way I was going to run distance, so I stuck with hockey." Matson says. So, as a freshman at Marathon High School, Matson competed in field hockey, basketball and track.
Her field hockey team collected three consecutive state championships starting in her sophomore year. In track she was the state champion in two events, the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. She also became the all-time leading rebounder in basketball and scored more than 1,000 points in her career.
And somehow her studies never took a back seat as she went on to become the class salutatorian. Her success in so many different facets of her life led to decisions regarding college. Those decisions were not just about going to school and continuing academic success, they were about fulfilling athletic success as well. The question was what sport would she concentrate on in college.
Matson was being recruited from every angle and for all three sports. She was leaning towards track.
But that seems odd, considering that she had wavering feelings for the sport.
"Track was so stressful. Throughout high school, I set a goal for myself," Matson remembers. "The goal was, if I won [the state championship] I wasn't going to come back and run the following year. No matter what happened, or how successful I was, or whether I attained that goal, I always came back. I didn't want to run because track is so individualized. I was sick to my stomach before every race, there was so much pressure, but I didn't want to let anyone down."
It wasn't until she saw her high school field hockey teammate Carla Tagliente making the decision to play for No. 1 Maryland that she realized field hockey might be what she wanted.
"I saw Carla making the decision to play field hockey for Maryland, and I thought about how successful we had been," Matson says. "I also thought about what it was like to run track and how I felt. Field hockey was a team sport, and I enjoyed it."
From that point on Matson focused her efforts. She had applied early to many colleges, including Princeton.
Princeton field hockey coach Beth Bozman was recruiting Matson.
"I was terrified of Beth," says Matson through an embarrassed giggle. "She was so professional, and I was so intimidated by her, but at the same time I had acquired so much respect for her immediately. I visited the campus and the rest is history. Everything clicked the minute I walked on the campus. As soon as I returned home, I cancelled the rest of my [college] visits."
Matson was going to be a Tiger. She had made the ultimate decision, and that decision repaid her with great success.
Matson, now in her fourth and final season, has received numerous individual honors and her team has built a tradition of excellence.
During her time here the Tigers have made two trips to the NCAA Final Four and won three Ivy League titles. Matson has been named third-team All-America twice, first-team regional All-America, Ivy League Rookie of the Year and first-team All-Ivy twice. She was also named to the NCAA all-tournament team in 1997 and 1998.
Matson leads the Tigers in scoring this season with 22 points on seven goals and eight assists as Princeton holds a 5-3 record (3-0 in the Ivy League).
To think that she wasn't going to play field hockey seems almost unimaginable.
"Coming to Princeton was one of the best decisions that I ever made," Matson says. "I couldn't have asked for more. Everything has fallen into place."
by Jen Rynearson