'It Comes From Trusting': The Berta Mata Story

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Miami Field Hockey won its 500th all-time game Monday, edging Indiana 3-2 on a goal with 2:37 to play.

And as usual, Berta Mata was all over the field for the RedHawks, not only assisting on the game-winner, but adding a goal herself.

Not bad for a player listed as a 'back' on the team roster! Berta Mata vs. Indiana

Mata, a graduate student from Barcelona, Spain, is a two-time All-American and the reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year, but her impact goes far beyond shutting down opponents' attacks.

"She's the kind of player that you just keep moving her and using her whenever you need a leader in a specific part of the field," head coach Iñako Puzo said afterward. "She has played all the way from center back to center forward and every single spot around…

"Even when she's playing in the backfield, you can really feel the good vibes and she can push the team from the back, so it's not just a defensive job…she's a player that plays both sides of the ball."

Despite her background as a defender, Mata has spent more time patrolling the midfield this season for the RedHawks, who are ranked No. 18 in the country and currently sit in a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference standings. Her scoring output has been notable —she entered her final season with four career goals in 67 appearances and already has added five tallies this year, including a hat trick— but it's her passing that really jumps off the stat sheet.

Mata's assist Monday was her 12th of the season, which ranks fifth in the country at 0.92 per contest. (To put that in perspective, as of 2024, the program record for assists in a year was 12 before both Mata and teammate Carlie Servis eclipsed it last season…and there are still four regular-season games remaining this fall!)

Mata now has 31 assists in her career, the second-highest total in program history.

Berta Mata vs. UC Davis

"I love passing," Mata smiled. "I've grown up watching soccer (Barça)…you see a lot of the windows and the spaces, and I try to do that with field hockey…

"It's just trying to find your player, and I feel like it comes from trusting all your teammates. It's not like, 'Oh, I don't pass to you because I don't trust you': If there's an open player or a pass that you can make, you make it."

"She's having an amazing year," Puzo added. "To have someone like Berta who's been here for so long, she understands the league, she understands the team, she understands the coaching style, she understands the game that we're trying to play and she understands the pressure you get in this game.

"To have her in the midfield, you win a lot: Not just for her skill level and her hockey, but for her leadership."

It's the kind of influence Puzo always envisioned Mata could have on his team, even before she initially traveled across the Atlantic to join the RedHawks' program in January 2021. But things took a turn a month later when Mata played her first-ever game with Miami, a preseason scrimmage against St. Francis. She suffered a devastating knee injury only a few minutes into the game that would cost her the next two seasons (the COVID-postponed season to be played that spring as well as the traditional fall season of 2021).

"It was really rough," Mata admitted. "I had to get surgery, and my parents couldn't even come because there still a lot of restrictions with traveling. Claudia [former Miami striker Claudia Negrete Garcia] saved my life because she helped me with everything. Berta Mata 2022

"I couldn't put my shoes on. I couldn't get my socks. I needed help driving everywhere. But then it got really rough because I kept failing the strength test with the leg and I couldn't get it."

"The recovery was super-slow," Puzo agreed. "And it was not her fault. She did everything people asked her to do. But the doctors were telling her she might have to get surgery again almost 18 months after the injury.

"I remember it was a lot of work from a lot of people in the department and around her to keep supporting her and keep giving her hope."

Mata eventually made it back for the 2022 season, playing in 22 games and starting 12, but both coach and player knew she wasn't herself.

"One part of rehabilitation is physical; the other part is mental," Puzo explained. "And both were very hard for Berta. The mental part became much harder because the physical rehabilitation didn't come in the time that it's supposed to. Then, after she was cleared to play, she was scared: Scared that in any moment, she might step and lose the knee."

"I wasn't confident, and I didn't trust my knee," said Mata. "I felt like I was more aware of what I did with my knee than what I did with the hockey stick."

After the season, Mata met with the RedHawks' coaching staff to chart a path forward. Extra conditioning. Extra speed and agility work. Extra individual sessions.

"Iñako told me, 'We're going to get you back to the player you were before,' and I think it worked!", Mata said.

Berta Mata

The spring out-of-season scrimmages in 2023 gave Mata a chance to sharpen her skills and regain her confidence in a low-stakes environment. The biggest adjustment, though? She began to play without her knee brace.

"I can visualize it: The day she decided not to play with the brace anymore," Puzo recalled. "That was kind of a liberation day, if you want to call it that.

"2023 is the year she started being an All-American...the Berta that we always knew we had, but that the injury took away from us for almost two-and-a-half years."

Since then, Mata has started every game for the RedHawks, 58 in all, and her stats have skyrocketed; more importantly, Miami has won 38 of those contests for a .655 winning percentage. In conference play, that mark is even higher, as the RedHawks have triumphed in 88% of their games against MAC opponents since the 2023 season began (22-3).

Not only has Mata been successful on the field for the Red and White over the past several years, but she has excelled in the classroom during her time in Oxford as well. The three-time Academic All-MAC honoree (who speaks three different languages) has already earned her undergraduate degree from Miami and is working on a Master's in Microbiology. In addition to her own class load and research, she helps assist with teaching a lab section.

"This is a person that came here speaking decent English…but to step up in front of a class and start teaching microbiology?", Puzo said. "How far she's gone, to not just being able to handle the subject, but the language – and to have the personality to do that is impressive.

"Berta is relentless in everything she does…and what you see off the field you're going to see on the field too. If you're a good leader on the field, you'll be a good leader off the field. If you're a hard worker off the field, you're going to be a hard worker on the field. That's my philosophy."

Mata and Miami return to the field this week for a pair of conference home games against Central Michigan (Friday at 1 p.m.) and Ball State (Sunday at 1 p.m.) as the RedHawks look for all-time victories No. 501 and No. 502 while trying to continue a remarkable run of league success. Miami is chasing a ninth-consecutive regular-season MAC title and aiming for what would be an eighth-straight MAC Tournament championship in November. A postseason trophy would guarantee MU its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in a row.

"I think it's great that we were able to be the team that got the 500th win, but there were so many people that came before," Mata said. "We all contribute to this. Berta Mata celebration

"And for that reason, we also want to keep moving forward. We talk about it with the seniors: 'We're not going to be the team that lost the first MAC or stops the [streak].'

"That's our mentality this year again. We have to keep going, not only for us and our four to five years here, but for the people that have come before."

And whether Mata is controlling the midfield with her passing, deploying up high to score, or manning the back line to shut down an opponent, one thing is sure:

As the RedHawks try to win yet another title, the versatile playmaker is someone the RedHawks can always trust to make an impact.

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures

Miami Field Hockey hosts Central Michigan on Friday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. and takes on Ball State at 1 p.m. Sunday in Oxford. Admission is free.

'It Comes From Trusting': The Berta Mata Story

Players Mentioned

Berta Mata

Claudia Negrete Garcia

Carlie Servis

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