Heather O'Reilly
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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) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder/ Winger | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | 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 | 7 | (3) |
International career‡ | |||
United States U-19 | |||
United States U-21 | |||
2002– | United States | 186 | (36) |
Medal record | |||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of June 6, 2013 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 6, 2013 |
Heather Ann O'Reilly (born January 2, 1985), also known by her initials HAO, is a member of the United States women's national soccer team and a three-time Olympic Gold medalist. She is a midfielder currently playing for the Boston Breakers in National Women's Soccer League.
Early life
Born to Andrew and Carol O'Reilly, Heather is the youngest of four children. Growing up in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey, O'Reilly attended Saint Bartholomew's School and later played on the girls soccer team at East Brunswick High School.[1] In her four-year career, she scored 143 goals. In 2001, as a junior, she led the team to 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. During 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. [citation needed]
O'Reilly was Soccer America's number one college recruit in the country.[citation needed]
University of North Carolina
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Heather_O%27Reilly_2006.jpg/130px-Heather_O%27Reilly_2006.jpg)
O'Reilly 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.
During 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. [citation needed]
In 2006, O'Reilly's No. 20 jersey was retired by the program, joining luminaries such as April Heinrichs, Lorrie Fair, Tisha Venturini, Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm, and 13 others.[citation needed]
Playing career
Club
O'Reilly played for New Jersey Wildcats of W-League from 2004 to 2005, winning the championship in 2005.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Heathernj-2010.jpg/240px-Heathernj-2010.jpg)
She was allocated to Sky Blue FC of Women's Professional Soccer on September 16, 2008, along with fellow U.S. national team players Natasha Kai and Christie Rampone.[2] 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.
Following her husband's enrollment in Harvard Business School, O'Reilly trained with and played two matches with the Boston Breakers of the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite in 2012 after the WPS folded and during breaks with her national team duties. She was allocated to the Breakers in 2013 at the initiation of the new National Women's Soccer League.
International
In 2002, while still in high school, O'Reilly 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 the 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 August 23, 2004, O'Reilly scored the game-winning goal[3] 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 scored a critical goal against North Korea in the 69th minute, which tied the game at 2–2 and 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.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6]
She was selected for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and in the second game of the group stage, she scored the first of three goals for USA against Colombia.
At the 2012 Olympics in London, she made a crucial assist in the 123rd minute of the semifinal match against Canada, sending a cross from the right to Alex Morgan who headed the ball into the goal over the hand of Erin McLeod, propelling team USA to the gold medal match against Japan.
International goals
Key (expand for notes on "international goals" and sorting) | |
---|---|
Location | Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred Sorted by country name first, then by city name |
Lineup | Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time |
Goal in match | Goal of total goals by the player in the match Sorted by total goals followed by goal number |
# | NumberOfGoals.goalNumber scored by the player in the match (alternate notation to Goal in match) |
Min | The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal. |
Assist/pass | The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information. |
penalty or pk | Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.) |
Score | The match score after the goal was scored. Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team |
Result | The final score. Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation |
aet | The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation |
pso | Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parentheses; the match was tied at the end of extra-time |
Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match | |
Light-yellow background color – match at an invitational tournament | |
Light-orange background color – Olympic women's football qualification match | |
Light-blue background color – FIFA women's world cup qualification match | |
Pink background color – Continental Games or regional tournament | |
Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament | |
Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament | |
NOTE on background colors: Continental Games or regional tournament are sometimes also qualifier for World Cup or Olympics; information depends on the source such as the player's federation.
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player |
Personal
O'Reilly married Dave Werry on October 1, 2011. She legally changed her name to Werry, however she decided to keep O'Reilly on the back of her jersey. She is of Irish descent. [citation needed]
O'Reilly currently lives in Massachusetts. In January 2013, she gave a speech to the students at South Lawrence East 5th Grade Academy. Afterwards, she proceeded to beat the entire student body in a footrace.
References
- ^ Staff. North Carolina's Heather O'Reilly Captures Honda Soccer Award, Atlantic Coast Conference press release dated December 20, 2006. Retrieved 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. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- ^ Steve Politi/Star-Ledger. "Ledger Archives: Heather O'Reilly lifts team into the finals". NJ.com. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- ^ Nicki Jhabvala (November 13, 2007). "SI.com – 2007 Sportsman of the Year – My Sportsman: Heather O'Reilly – Tuesday November 13, 2007 2:47PM". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- ^ Martin Mejia (August 12, 2008). "East Brunswick's Heather O'Reilly leads U.S. women's soccer team into quarterfinals". NJ.com. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- ^ Gregory, Sean (July 24, 2008). "15. Heather O'Reilly – 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch". TIME. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Heather O'Reilly – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Official website
- US Soccer player profile
- Sky Blue FC player profile
- New Jersey Wildcats player profile
- North Carolina player profile
Template:Boston Breakers squad Template:United States Squad 2002 U-19 Women's World Championship
- 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, New Jersey
- People from New Brunswick, New Jersey
- American people of Irish descent
- 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
- Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- 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
- United Soccer Leagues W-League players
- Boston Breakers (WPSL Elite) players
- National Women's Soccer League players
- Boston Breakers (NWSL) players
- Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics