National Team Standout And Elite Field Hockey Recruit Reese D'Ariano Commits to UNC

North Carolina field hockey head coach Erin Matson has already brought plenty of success to Karen Shelton Stadium, and continues to position the program for that to continue in the years ahead. To that end, Matson recently received big news on the recruiting front — a commitment from one of the most heralded and accomplished field hockey recruits in the country in Reese D’Ariano.

“UNC field hockey obviously has a tradition of excellence in winning, and I want to continue that,” D’Ariano, a midfielder at West Chester (Pa.) Leadership Charter School, told Inside Carolina. “Erin and the entire UNC coaching staff were amazing throughout the whole process, and when I watched the practice, I could see how tough and demanding they were, and I know that they’re gonna push me to be the best that I can be.” 

D’Ariano played her club field hockey for WC Eagles Field Hockey Club — the same program that produced Matson.

“Growing up, I always watched Erin play, and being from WC, I was always compared to Erin, which was always very flattering,” D’Ariano said. “But she was one of the best to come out of our club, and probably one of the best to ever play field hockey.”

D’Ariano is a 2027 recruit but will not arrive in Chapel Hill until the fall of 2028, as she plans to take a gap year to focus on making Team USA’s roster for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Representing the United States has been a priority for her since 2021, when she was named to the Junior Women’s National Indoor Team. Two years later, at 14 years old, she earned a spot on the U.S. Women’s National Indoor Team. In 2025, she was named to the U.S. Women’s National Team and recorded her first appearance on Feb. 23.

D’Ariano and her future head coach have also shared the field on multiple occasions, including at the 2024 Indoor Pan American Cup, where D’Ariano earned both MVP and Top Goal Scorer honors for the tournament, as well as the 2025 Rohrmax Cup

“I never honestly thought I would play with Erin,” D’Ariano said. “So when I got the chance to at Pan Am’s, it was super cool, and again at World Cup. I’ve always looked up to her, and I’m super excited to be coached by her.”

Playing on a national team filled with teammates already competing in college while she was still deciding where her own career would begin created an unusual recruiting dynamic for D’Ariano. She was pursued by other highly regarded programs, including Duke and Northwestern, but ultimately it was Matson and the Tar Heels who earned her commitment.

“I’m very close to the entire team, they’re like a family now to me, but I definitely tried to keep the recruiting process on the more quiet side,” D’Ariano said. “I asked for opinions when needed but I wanted to keep this kind of private and to myself so I could just go about it at my own pace and how I wanted to go at it.

“But the girls were amazing. When I was talking to colleges that some of the girls went to — we have people from Maryland, Duke, Northwestern, Penn State and so many other places, I made sure to ask them their opinions, because I wanted both sides of it, but they were amazing at being honest and giving me honest feedback.”

D’Ariano joins fellow top-10-ranked recruits Maeve McGinley and Jack Shaw, as well as Piper Reibsane, a top-100 recruit — all WC Eagles products — in North Carolina’s 2027 recruiting class.