If you’re a fan of Perry County field hockey, or field hockey in general, you’ve heard the name Patin Worth.
For those of you who don’t know the name, here’s some background.
Worth graduated from Greenwood High School in 2018 after leading the team to a state championship and taking home the state title under current coach Kent Hauser.
For what — Greenwood alumnus Paityn Wirth moves downfield during the NCAA championship game. (Photo by Veronica Dillmann)
After four years of displaying incredible stick speed and skill level, she signed with Division I Penn State University, where she became a starter on the field hockey team.
Worth played there for a year, playing in every game and maintaining himself among other top players in the country.
In addition to playing at the college level, Worth also played at the national level, making the junior Olympic team in high school and making the US Women’s National Team in college.
After a year with the Nittany Lions, Worth transferred to the University of North Carolina, where he continued to start every game, adding a key midfield position to one of the nation’s best teams.
This year, Wirth appeared in his senior year, where UNC finished the season 21-0 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament after winning the ACC Tournament again.
Entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed, the Tar Heels began their journey with a match against Delaware, which Worth and her team eased 5-1.
CHAMPS — Paityn Wirth (10) holds up the trophy he helped his team win in the NCAA Championship. (Photo by Veronica Dillmann)
UNC then progressed to the next round, where they faced St. Joseph’s and won a big 5–2 to advance to the next round.
In the semifinals, Worth faced his former teammate in a matchup against Penn State. Worth scored his one goal against Nittany in his Lions win and helped the team advance to his game of the championship with his 3-0 win.
In the final round, the Tar Heels faced 2021 champions Northwestern University.
Time passed and Worth won the state championship by pushing through defenders just like he did four years ago at Whitehall.
UNC’s Erin Mattson scored with a feed from Worth to give the Tar Heels a 2–1 win. With just 1:19 left in the game in Matson’s tally, Northwestern equalized just 39 seconds later.
This was the second NCAA title Wirth won with UNC.
