Four National Championship Coaches, Four Generations of USA Field Hockey Athletes
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by Caitlin Rubsamen, USA Field Hockey’s College Content Intern
The end of the 2024 collegiate field hockey season is rapidly coming to a close with the NCAA Championship for Division I, II and III all taking place this weekend. For Division I, North Carolina, Northwestern, Saint Joseph’s, and Massachusetts all look to claim the national title. While all four of these teams are in different regions, have different records, styles of play, and different histories, they have one thing in common – each head coach has played on the U.S. Women’s National Team at some point in her life.
Tracey Fuchs, Erin Matson, Hannah Prince and Barb Weinberg – four different accomplished coaches and four different decades of USA Field Hockey.
Tracey Fuchs is getting prepared to take Northwestern to what she hopes is yet another Championship game. The Wildcats have not won a National Title since their first in 2021, but have been in the title match every year since. As a player, Fuchs is one of the most well-known names in USA Field Hockey history. During her time as a member of the USWNT, she was a member of not only four World Cup teams, but two Olympic Games teams as well. She was named the USA Field Hockey Player of the Year in 1990 and 1993 and served as captain of the team for 14 seasons. In her 17 years on the squad, Fuchs participated in more than 268 international matches. As a coach, Fuchs has an equally impressive resume. A Level 3 USA Field Hockey certified coach, she has coached various teams for the U.S. National program, including currently serving as the USWNT assistant coach, as well as for numerous collegiate programs. Since taking on the role of head coach at Northwestern in 2009, Fuchs has become the winningest head coach in program history. She has led the Wildcats to three Big Ten Championships, a National Title, and taken the team to seven NCAA Tournaments.
Erin Matson, the most recent player for the USWNT, was first named to the program in 2013, where she played as a member of the Indoor USWNT. From there, she joined the Junior U.S. Women’s National Team in 2015, then was named to the senior squad in 2017. Some of her career highlights with the red, white, and blue include a gold medal at the 2017 FIH Hockey World League Semifinals, bronze at the 2017 Pan American Games, and bronze at the 2017 Pan American Cup. Matson played for North Carolina, where she now coaches, for five seasons, during each of which she was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year. She is the most decorated player in the history of Tar Heel field hockey. Now, Matson is in her second season at the helm for North Carolina and looks to capture her second National Title as head coach, after leading her team to two ACC Championships.
Meanwhile, Hannah Prince, head coach of Saint Joseph’s, has had experience both playing and coaching for various U.S. National Teams. A Level 3 USA Field Hockey certified coach, Prince served as an assistant coach for the Indoor USWNT and U-16 USWNT. After an impressive playing career at UMass, she was selected to the USWNT in June 2014, then eventually went on to captain the indoor team for six years. The team achieved a gold medal at the 2017 Indoor Pan American Cup and finished tenth at the 2018 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Germany. Prince was named the head coach of Saint Joseph’s in 2022 after previously serving as an assistant for the Hawks from 2017 to 2018, with stints at Princeton and Louisville in between. During her first two seasons at the helm, Prince has led the Hawks to two Atlantic 10 (A10) Championships, and now their first NCAA Semifinals appearance. She is looking to coach her team to their first ever National Championship crown this weekend.
Massachusetts, who face off against Northwestern on Friday, are led by head coach Barb Weinberg. Weinberg stepped into her role with the Minutewomen in 2016, and has since found success – bringing the program to their first A10 undefeated season since 2013 and second ever NCAA Semifinal appearance. Before joining the staff at UMass, Weinberg spent time as a coach at Maryland, American, and Iowa. While at Maryland as a goalkeeper coach, the team won back-to-back National Championships in 2010 and 2011, and won five league titles. As a player, Weinberg was a two-time All-American goalkeeper at Iowa, and a member of the USWNT from 2005 to 2010. She made 19 international appearances and earned the position of alternate goalkeeper for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Massachusetts enters this NCAA Championship weekend for the first time since 1992.
All four of these coaches have played at the highest level for the red, white and blue, and all four have coached National Championship level teams. As we head into the weekend, ready to watch some top field hockey action with skillful and tenacious athletes, we can also remember that this desire to perform starts from the coaches, and these four are some of the very best.
