Haite Named to Fred Mitchell Award September Watch List

Kingston, Massachusetts, freshman placekicker recognized for strong start to collegiate career

The Fred Mitchell Award Website

EASTON, Mass. (September 30, 2016) – Stonehill College freshman placekicker Matthew Haite (Kingston, Massachusetts/Silver Lake Regional) has been named to The Fred Mitchell Award's September "Watch List" for his strong performance during the opening month of his collegiate career.

Haite, who earned Northeast-10 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors following the first week of the season, is among 16 placekickers from NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III, NAIA and NJCAA recognized by the Fred Mitchell Award for their efforts in the month of September. He is one of just five from Division II, two from Super Region 1 and the lone Northeast-10 student-athlete named to the "Watch List." The Fred Mitchell Award is presented annually in December to a College Division kickers for excellence on the football field and in the community.

Haite is the second Stonehill kicker ever named to the Mitchell Award "Watch List" after recent graduate Steve Grzywacz '16, the Skyhawks all-time leading scorer, was named twice over his career and was a preseason "Watch List" member as a junior. Haite is Stonehill's leading scorer through the first four games of the season with 26 points (7th NE-10), having converted 5-of-6 field goals – all over 30-yards, and all 11 extra points.  His lone miss was a 40-yard attempt in week one against Bloomsburg University that was blocked. He is also averaging 61.9 yards per attempt on 23 kickoffs with four touchbacks.

Haite delivered a season-best 47-yard field goal – the longest in the NE-10 this season by ten yards - and six PATs in Stonehill's 45-34 victory over Saint Anselm College last weekend in the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk." The field goal in the longest by a Stonehill kicker since Joe Crowley '04 hit a school-record 52-yarder in 2003. Haite got his collegiate career off to a solid start with eight points in week one against Bloomsburg, drilling 30 and 36-yard field goals. He also totaled eight points in week three against LIU Post with a pair of 33-yard field goals.

Haite has an impressive list of community service under his belt, including volunteering at the Angelo Elementary School during Stonehill's Community Engagement Day as part of Class of 2020 Orientation. He has also volunteered at Boston Higahsi School for Autism in Randolph, Massachusetts and Kingston Intermediate School. Haite coaches youth basketball with Silver Lake Youth Basketball and flag football at Kingston Flag Football League, through the NFL's flag football program.

Stonehill (1-3, 1-2 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Merrimack College as part of Family Weekend at W.B. Mason Stadium for its Alumni Game at 1 p.m.

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