Heather O'Reilly
 Heather O'Reilly of the United States Women's National Soccer team at a friendly against Canada in 2011 |
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Heather Ann O'Reilly | ||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | January 2, 1985 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | East Brunswick, New Jersey, United States | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||
| Current club | Boston Breakers | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||
| 2003–2006 | North Carolina Tar Heels | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | New Jersey Wildcats | 9 | (8) | ||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Sky Blue FC | 50 | (4) | ||||||||||||
| 2012– | Boston Breakers | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||
| National team‡ | |||||||||||||||
| United States U-19 | |||||||||||||||
| United States U-21 | |||||||||||||||
| 2002– | United States | 153 | (33) | ||||||||||||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:13, 13 July 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Heather Ann O'Reilly (born 2 January 1985, in New Brunswick, New Jersey), also known by her initials HAO, is a member of the United States women's national soccer team and a two-time Olympic Gold medalist. She is a midfielder currently playing for the Boston Breakers of Women's Professional Soccer.[1]
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[edit] High school career
A resident of East Brunswick Township, New Jersey, O'Reilly played on the girls soccer team at East Brunswick High School.[2] In her four-year career she scored 143 goals. In 2001, as a junior, she led the team to win the New Jersey State High School Title.
Throughout high school, O’Reilly was a member of the National Honor Society and played on the school’s basketball team. In her senior year she was named Parade All-American and the Parade National Player of the Year. In 2002 she was named the Gatorade High School National Player of the Year and the National Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year.
O'Reilly was Soccer America's number one college recruit in the country.
[edit] University career
She was an education major at University of North Carolina where she played forward for the North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer program from 2003 through 2006. She appeared 97 times for the Tar Heels, scoring 59 goals and assisting on 49 others. She led her team to national championships in 2003 and 2006. In her senior year ESPN the Magazine named her the All-American Player of the Year and was awarded the NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award following her senior year.
Her #20 jersey was retired by the program, joining luminaries such as April Heinrichs, Lorrie Fair, Tisha Venturini, Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm and 13 others.
[edit] Club career
O'Reilly played for New Jersey Wildcats of W-League from 2004 to 2005, winning the championship in 2005.
She was allocated to Sky Blue FC of Women's Professional Soccer on 16 September 2008, along with Natasha Kai and Christie Rampone.[3] She appeared in 17 matches as co-captain in the 2009 inaugural season, leading Sky Blue to an unexpected playoff berth. In the championship 2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs game against Los Angeles, she scored the only goal.
[edit] U.S. national team
In 2002, while still in high school, she was named to the U.S. national team. O'Reilly made her first appearance with the United States women's national soccer team on March 1, 2002 against Sweden.
After recovering from a broken fibula from a match a year before, O'Reilly made the U.S. Women's National Team roster for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. At nineteen years old, she was the youngest player on the roster. On 23 August 2004, O'Reilly scored the game-winning goal[4] in the Olympic semifinal match against Germany, propelling the United States into the final, in which they defeated Brazil for the gold medal.
In the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, O'Reilly made a critical score against North Korea in the 69th minute, which tied the game at 2-2. It saved the Americans from a devastating opening-round loss. The United States ended up taking the bronze medal, with O'Reilly scoring a goal during the 4-1 win against Norway. She was nominated as Sports Illustrated's 2007 Sportsman of the Year.[5]
O’Reilly was a part of the U.S. Women’s Team roster for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. She scored the fastest goal in Olympic women's soccer history against New Zealand to earn the team a spot in the quarterfinals.[6] She also scored a goal in the semifinal match against Japan. The team went on to defeat heavy-favorite Brazil 1-0 to win the gold medal. Prior to the Summer Games, Time magazine ranked her number 15 on its list of 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch.[7]
She was selected for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and on her second game during the group stage, she scored the first of three goals for USA against Colombia.
[edit] Personal
O'Reilly is a graduate of both Saint Bartholomew's School and East Brunswick High School. Daughter of Andrew and Carol O'Reilly, she is the youngest of four children. She married Dave Werry on October 1, 2011.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.womensprosoccer.com/boston/news/general/111228-oreilly-agrees-to-terms
- ^ Staff. North Carolina's Heather O'Reilly Captures Honda Soccer Award, Atlantic Coast Conference press release dated December 20, 2006. Accessed February 13, 2011. "The East Brunswick, N.J. Native Is Also Automatically Nominated for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Award."
- ^ Goff, Steve. "Soccer Insider - WPS Allocation List". Voices.washingtonpost.com. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2008/09/wps_allocation_list.html. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
- ^ Steve Politi/Star-Ledger. "Ledger Archives: Heather O'Reilly lifts team into the finals". NJ.com. http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2008/07/ledger_archives_heather_oreill_1.html. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
- ^ Nicki Jhabvala (2007-11-13). "SI.com - 2007 Sportsman of the Year - My Sportsman: Heather O'Reilly - Tuesday November 13, 2007 2:47PM". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/magazine/specials/sportsman/2007/11/07/jhabvala.oreilly/. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
- ^ Martin Mejia (2008-08-12). "East Brunswick's Heather O'Reilly leads U.S. women's soccer team into quarterfinals". NJ.com. http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2008/08/east_brunswicks_heather_oreill.html. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
- ^ Gregory, Sean (2008-07-24). "15. Heather O'Reilly - 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1819129_1819134_1825731,00.html. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
[edit] External links
- Heather O'Reilly – FIFA competition record
- Official website
- US Soccer player profile
- Sky Blue FC player profile
- New Jersey Wildcats player profile
- North Carolina player profile
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- 1985 births
- Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Living people
- North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players
- Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer)
- People from East Brunswick Township, New Jersey
- People from New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Olympic soccer players of the United States
- United States women's international soccer players
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States
- Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Sky Blue FC players
- American women's soccer players
- FIFA Century Club
- 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- Olympic medalists in football
- Soccer players from New Jersey
