Matt Hale

Position:
Center Defender
Weight:
null
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Atherton, Calif.
High School:
The Menlo School

Matt Hale followed up his breakout junior year with another solid season as a senior. He was named an ACWPC honorable mention All-America for the second straight season and also earned first-team All-Southern and second-team All-Eastern recognition. Hale recorded career highs in all categories as he scored 25 goals and added a team-high 29 assists. He also led the team with 56 steals and 12 field blocks. Hale opened the season with two goals against Cal Baptist and would go on to record seven multiple-goal games. His season high was three goals and it came twice, first in a win over Brown and second in a loss to Navy in the Eastern semifials. Hale added two goals outings against Johns Hopkins, Navy, St. Francis and Bucknell. Hale was named the Southern Player of the Week after two of those games came back-to-back in a league weekend at Hopkins, Navy and GW. In three games, Hale had four goals, five assists and 14 steals. Hale finished the year with eight multiple-assist games and had a high og four in games against George Washington and St. Francis. His season-high in steals was seven and it came in a win at Johns Hopkins. He also added a five-steal game against Bucknelland four-steal outings against George Washington, Navy and MIT.

Hale earned honorable mention ACWPC All-America honors as a junior after a season that saw him score 19 goals in 24 games. Hale was also named to the NCAA's Second All-Tournament Team and was a CWPA All-Academic Team Member. Hale scored a goal, had an assist and collected four steals in Princeton's season-opening loss to UCLA. Hale missed four games early in the season while injured but returned to play a vital role in the Tigers' game plan. He scored a pair of goals in regular-season league wins over George Washington and Bucknell, and had additional goals in wins over Navy and Redlands. More than half of Hale's season-goal total came during the postseason as he scored 10 goals in eight postseason games. Hale scored four goals at Southerns, two in the first-round win over Gannon and two in the championship game loss to Navy. He then scored four goals at Southerns, once in the semifinals against Bucknell and three times in the championship game win over Navy. Hale also had four steals in that Navy win. He then closed out the season with single goals in each game of the NCAA tournament, scoring against both USC and Loyola Marymount.

Hale scored 16 goals in his sophomore campaign. He also added seven assists and led the team with 44 steals for the second season in a row. Hale scored a season-high three goals, matching his career best, in a loss to Santa Clara. He also has an assist and four steals in the game. Hale added four more two goals games, netting a pair in wins over Brown (twice), Johns Hopkins, and George Washington. On two occasions Hale recorded five steals in a game, doing it in wins over Brown and Mercyhurst.

Hale was strong offensively and defensively during his freshman campaign. He was one of six Princeton players to reach 20 goals and he led the team in steals with 52. Hale scored three goals in a win over Iona and added two goals against UC San Diego, George Washington and Salem. Hale had a season-high five steals in a loss at Cal Baptist and had four in wins over Pomona-Pitzer and Salem.

As a high school junior, he was first player off the bench on the varsity squad and earned All-PAL honorable mention. As a senior, he was part of the Stanford 18’s B team that placed in the top 10 at the Junior Olympics and was named a NISCA Academic All-America. Additionally he was co-captain of his school team that went 28-1 and won the CCS title and the TruWest tournament. He earned first-team PAL and CCS honors his senior year and was a fourth team All-America.

Career Stats

Year	GP	Goals	Shots	Assists	Steals	Sprints	Ej. Drawn	Ejections	Blocks
2007	27	20	52	10	52	0-3	9	11	4
2008	29	16	40	7	44	0-0	7	24	3
2009	24	19	54	9	36	0-0	7	17	6
2010	27	25	82	29	56	0-0	10	18	12
Totals	107	80	228	55	188	0-3	33	70	25

Awards & Honors

- ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America (2009, 2010)
- NCAA All-Tournament Second Team (2009)
- First-Team All-Southern (2010)
- Second-Team All-Eastern Tournament (2010)
- Academic All-Ivy League (2010)
- CWPA Scholar-Athlete Team (2009)
- Southern Player of the Week (9/28/10)