Heather O'Reilly

Position:
Forward
Height:
5-4
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
E. Brunswick, NJ

General -- A great collegiate player who will compete for National Player of the Year honors in 2006...three-year starter at forward...the 15th leading scorer in UNC history with 127 points...ranks 14th in goals with 47 and 27th in assists with 33...holds the school record for most goals scored in a single NCAA Tournament with eight in 2003...one of the leading members of the U.S. National Team where she starts at forward..already has established herself as a presence in international soccer and as one of the future stars of the U.S. National Team...has played on the National Team since 2002...through May 6, 2006 she had earned 46 caps and scored seven goals...named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year in 2004...2004 and 2005 first-team All-America selection...consensus choice as the National Freshman of the Year in 2003 as she helped lead UNC to the national championship with a brilliant NCAA Tournament performance...won a gold medal playing on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team...calls that her biggest sports thrill...has been one of UNC's most active participants in community service projects...she has volunteered with Get Kids In Action, Carolina Dreams, Adopt A Classroom and the Katrina Relief Fund...serves as the soccer team's representative with the Carolina Outreach program...has organized a canned food drive and worked with Share Your Holiday program.
National Team Experience -- Member of the U.S. National Team since 2002...was invited to participate in training camp prior to the 2003 Women's World Cup...played in her first world championship event at the senior level at the 2004 Olympics ... she was a star on the U.S.'s 2002 Under-19 World Championship team, scoring four goals with seven assists to help the U.S. claim the first-ever world championship for youth women...by far the youngest player named to the 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup roster and the youngest gold medal winner on the 2004 Olympic team ... in 2005, she played in all four matches at the Algarve Cup, starting one, which was her first start since breaking her leg in June of 2003 ... was named U.S. Soccer's Young Female Athlete of the Year in 2004 ... played in 12 matches off the bench and made a late run during the Olympic Residency Camp to earn a spot on the roster for the Athens Olympics ... picked up two assists in her first match after being named to the Olympic roster in a 3-1 win over Australia ... scored one of the most important goals in U.S. history in overtime against Germany in the Olympic semifinal off an assist from Mia Hamm to help the U.S. to a 2-1 win ... in 2003, she earned 10 full national team caps and scored two goals, but suffered a broken fibula in her left leg on June 14 versus Ireland in Salt Lake City just 74 seconds into the game after colliding with the Irish goalkeeper while scoring her third full national team goal ... did not recover sufficiently in time to make the Women's World Cup Team in 2003 ... 2002 was her first year on the full National Team... played in eight games, including her debut against Sweden at the Algarve Cup and scored her first international goal against Italy at the Nike U.S. Women's Cup in Cary, N.C. ...at the age of 17, she earned four caps for the U.S. Women's National Team at the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March of 2002, playing against Sweden, England, Norway and Denmark... a key player on the U.S.'s 2002 U-19 World Championship team, she played a part in the golden goal against Canada in the U.S.'s 1-0 win in the championship game, keeping a cross alive with a hard near post run before Lindsey Tarpley finished it to end the game ... she scored 18 goals in 18 U19 internationals...a member of the 2002 Under-19 CONCACAF Qualifying Team, she helped the U.S. qualify for the 2002 FIFA Under-19 Women's World Championship, playing in all three matches and scoring seven goals with four assists.
Club Soccer - Played for the EB Bears Club Team which won the 2001 state championship and three county titles.
2005 Season - Finalist for the 2005 Honda Soccer Award and Soccer Buzz National Player of the Year award and a semifinalist for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy...first team All-America selection by Soccer Buzz and the NSCAA and second team All-America selection by Soccer Times...led the ACC with 18 goals and 47 points while also notching 11 assists to be named 2005 ACC Offensive Player of the Year...also named first-team All-ACC for the second consecutive season...was a second team Academic All-America and first-team Academic All-District selection as named by ESPN The Magazine...also a first-team All-Southeast Region selection by Soccer Buzz and the NSCAA...preseason All-America selection by Soccer Buzz and Soccer America...a 2005 All-ACC Tournament selection after netting her 16th goal of the year against Virginia in the championship game...was a back-to-back ACC Player of the Week on September 5 and September 12...named to the Soccer America Team of the Week on September 5 when she posted a hat trick and an assist against Davidson and then followed that up with an assist on the Tar Heels' lone goal against Yale...had a career best four game-winning goals...had eight points in a two-game trip to California against San Francisco and Stanford with three goals and two assists...broke a 1-1 tie with a rebound golden goal in the 105th minute against No. 5-ranked Virginia in the regular season meeting ...also knocked in the game-winner against Western Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament...had an assist on Carolina's only goal in the 1-1 tie against Florida State in the NCAA quarterfinal...named to the 2005-06 ACC Academic Honor Roll with a 3.789 GPA...was named to the Dean's List both semesters with a 4.0 in the fall and a 3.62 in the spring.
2004 Season - 2004 National Player of the year finalist as named by the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, Soccer Buzz and the Honda Soccer Award...had three game-winning goals while leading the team in scoring with 37 points...scored 13 goals and had 11 assists on the season...first-team All-America selection on the NSCAA and Soccer Buzz teams...first-team All-ACC selection...first-team All-Southeast Region by the NSCAA and Soccer Buzz...2004 All-ACC Tournament choice....during the week of October 25 she was named the ACC Player of the Week, to the Soccer Buzz Elite Feet Team and to Soccer America Team of the Week...scored against Florida in her first game back after playing with the Olympic Team...assisted on the game-winners against Kennesaw State, Georgia and NC State...had a goal and an assist versus Furman......named to 2005 ACC Academic Honor Roll...also tapped for Dean's List in spring 2005...tied the regular-season game against Maryland in the waning minutes before UNC won in overtime...had a pair of goals against both Virginia Tech and Miami...scored the game-winner at Wake Forest...figured in all four goals at Florida State, scoring twice and assisting twice...beat Maryland in the 2004 ACC Tournament quarterfinals with a golden goal in the second overtime...had a goal and four assists in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against William & Mary...those four assists tied the record for most assists in an NCAA Tournament game.
2003 Season -- Suffered a broken fibula playing for the National Team on June 14, 2003 yet was cleared for practice 10 days before the Tar Heels' first regular season match that fall...consensus selection as National Freshman of the Year...won the award from Soccer Buzz, Soccer America and Soccer Times...earned first-team All-America honors from Soccer Post and Soccer America, second-team All-America from Soccer Buzz and Soccer Times and third-team All-America from the NSCAA...first-team freshman All-America selection by Soccer Buzz and Soccer America...tapped as the Southeast Region Freshman Player of the Year by Soccer Buzz...named first-team All-Southeast Region by Soccer Buzz and to Soccer Buzz's Freshman All-Region Team...named to the All-Tournament Team at the 2003 NCAA Tournament and the 2003 ACC Tournament ...copped honors as the Most Valuable Offensive Player of the 2003 NCAA Tournament...was a second-team All-ACC selection...also named to ACC All-Freshman Team...played in 25 matches and started 20 times...finished the year as UNC's third-leading scorer with 43 points on 16 goals and 11 assists...had 13 of her 16 goals in the final 12 games of the season as she caught fire in post-season play...had two goals and an assist against Guilford...assisted on the game-winner against Richmond...assisted twice in the regular-season win over Duke...had a goal and two assists versus Clemson...had the game-winning goal and an assist in the win over No. 5 Virginia...scored twice against Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals...scored eight goals and had two assists in NCAA Tournament play...had two goals versus UNCG, a goal and an assist versus Purdue and two goals and an assist against UConn amongst the highlights...she set the record for the most goals scored by a UNC player in an NCAA Tournament.
Prep - Graduated from East Brunswick High School on June 20, 2003...named the Gatorade High School National Player of the Year in 2002...she also won that award from the National Soccer Coaches Association and Parade Magazine...three-time high school All-America selection by both the NSCAA and Parade...member of National Honor Society...also played point guard on her high school basketball team for four years.
Personal - Given name is Heather Ann O'Reilly...daughter of Andrew and Carol O'Reilly...was born January 2, 1985 in New Brunswick, N.J. ...has three brothers...hopes to pursue a career as a professional soccer player or teacher after her UNC days are over...hobbies include basketball, music and computers...athlete she most admires is Lance Armstrong...biggest sports thrill was winning the gold medal in Athens at the Olympics in front of her friends and family...person who most influenced her career is her former soccer coach, Charlie Naimo...favorite book is Catcher in the Rye...favorite food is cereal...favorite TV show is Friends...her favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption...her favorite color is Carolina Blue...her father ran track at Villanova and one of her brothers competed in track and cross country at the Air Force Academy...majoring in education.