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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Throughout their upbringings, athletic excellence has simply been a part of the DNA for Walpole natives Brooke and Taylor Matherson.
Field hockey always has and always will be the crown jewel of Walpole High, and Brooke Matherson helped keep the winning Porker tradition alive from 2010-2013. A four-year starter, Matherson netted 133 goals and tallied 48 assists throughout her high school career, helping guide Walpole to a state championship as a captain during her senior season. Matherson’s efforts earned her Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic honors twice, and she was twice a third-team All-American. Off the turf, Matherson continued her athletic excellence as a core member of the Walpole High girls ice hockey team, winning All-Scholastic honors twice.
Following high school, Matherson accepted a scholarship to attend her parents’ alma mater, Boston College, to play field hockey. As a freshman, Matherson appeared in 17 games for the Eagles, scored two goals and had two assists, and earned the Athletic Director’s Award for Academic Achievement as well as a spot on the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Honor Roll. Last season as a junior, Matherson appeared in 18 games for BC, scoring three goals and adding an assist while earning a spot on the National All-Academic team and her third Athletic Director’s Award for Academic Achievement, as well as a placement on the ACC Honor Roll for a third time. Now a senior, Matherson will look to finish her collegiate career on a high note this fall as the forward is currently in the midst of preseason summer training camp in Chestnut Hill.
While Brooke’s collegiate athletic career may be coming to a close following the 2017 field hockey season, her sister Taylor’s is just beginning at Dartmouth. Unlike Brooke, who stayed in town and played at Walpole High, Taylor took her talents to Tabor Academy to play hockey, where she graduated this past May.
Taylor Matherson excelled as a defenseman for the Seawolves throughout the last four years and on her club team, the Massachusetts Spitfires, all while attending the USA Hockey National Development Camp. A member of the Cum Laude Society, the NFHCA National Academic Team, and a First-Team All-NEPSAC selection, Matherson accepted a scholarship to play hockey at Dartmouth just before the start of her senior season at Tabor last fall.
Taylor credited growing up in a competitive environment in Walpole as a major factor that inevitably allowed her to go on and play in college, while also pointing out how much of an influence her older sister Brooke was to her development.
“I definitely think growing up in Walpole was a factor in how I got so into sports,” said Matherson. “Even though I never loved any other sport as much as hockey, I still grew up playing lacrosse, softball, and field hockey, which are all very competitive here [in Walpole], even at a young age. I think it also helped growing up with an older sister who was really into sports because I saw what she would accomplish and it pushed me to want to be better at everything I did.”
As far as expectations for her upcoming freshman season, Taylor says that she is preparing for a tough adjustment playing at the collegiate level, but it is one that she is very much looking forward to after training hard throughout the summer.
“My only real expectation is that it definitely will be a tough adjustment going from high school to the college level,” said Matherson. “But, I know it will be fun to try and rise up to that level of play in the sport that I’ve loved for so many years. I just hope to really be a solid player for my team and grow as both a hockey player and as a person. This summer I’ve just been trying to focus on getting stronger and faster in the gym and on the ice to help ease my transition when I do step onto campus in September.”
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
