June 20, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The blue and white will be well represented this weekend when the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame inducts the Class of 2018. Field hockey and women's lacrosse legend Candy Finn Rocha and two-time national champion wrestler Andy Matter will each be among the inductees at the June 24 reception.
Finn Rocha was the first-ever female recipient of the Tewaaraton Legends Award, bestowed upon student-athletes whose collegiate lacrosse careers ended prior to 2001, when the Tewaaraton Award was first presented to the best male and female lacrosse student-athletes.
A 1998 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee, Finn Rocha helped Penn State win national championships in lacrosse in 1979 and 1980. She was a four-time All-American and led the team in scoring each year. Rocha left Penn State as the all-time leader in goals (265) and points (334) and currently sits second in both categories to this day.
In 1981, Finn Rocha had arguably her most impressive season by scoring 76 goals in only 15 games, an exhausting 5.07 goals per game. Her 76 goals as a junior remain the junior class record. In 1980, Finn Rocha set the school record for goals in a game with 14 during a win over East Stroudsburg. She pitched in three assists in that game for a 17-point game.
Finn Rocha was the recipient of the Broderick Award as the collegiate player of the year in 1981 and 1982. During the course of 1980 and 1981, she played for the U.S. National Team and on the World Cup teams in 1982 and 1986. During the 1982 season she became an assistant coach at Penn State and eventually moved on to coach girl's lacrosse at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut as well as Lawrence Academy, Brooks School and Berkshire School, all in Massachusetts.
Also a standout in field hockey, Finn Rocha was a two-time NFHCA All-American and played on the U.S. National Team in field hockey in 1978 and 1979. She owns the career (90) and single season (34) goals scored mark at Penn State. Her 196 career points remain as the school standard, while her 72 points during the 1981 seasons rank No. 2 all-time.
Andy Matter
A three-year letterman for the Nittany Lions, Matter starred on the mat for the blue and white from 1970-72 and piled up a 58-2 career record. The Upper Darby, Pennsylvania native claimed back-to-back national championships at 167 pounds during the 1971 and 1972 seasons. His first national title came with a 22-1 record and he was an unblemished 21-0 en route to his 1972 national crown.
Matter swept his last 10 NCAA bouts, defeating seven All-Americans during that stretch, and was Penn State's first two-time NCAA Champion. His .917 winning percentage in the NCAA Championships is No. 2 all-time at Penn State, behind Ed Ruth's .955 mark, while his .967 winning percentage was the school standard from 1972 until 2014 and currently ranks No. 6 all-time.
In his career, Matter boasted a perfect 33-0 dual meet record, one of only four Penn State wrestlers to complete a career unblemished in dual meets. Matter was the lone undefeated dual meet wrestler at PSU until Ruth, David Taylor and Zain Retherford joined the club.
A 1999 inductee into the EIWA Hall of Fame, he won three-straight Easter Intercollegiate Wrestling Association titles. The Matter family added two more EIWA champs (sons Brett and Clinton, 9 total titles), then in 2000 Brett created the fourth father/son combination to win NCAA titles.