Heather O'Reilly

Early life

Heather O'Reilly was born to Andrew and Carol O'Reilly, the youngest of four children. She grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, attending Saint Bartholomew's School and later playing for the girls soccer team at East Brunswick High School. Over four years she scored 143 goals, and as a junior in 2001 she led the team to the New Jersey state high school title. During high school she was a member of the National Honor Society and played on the school's basketball team.

In her senior year, she was named All-American and National Player of the Year by Parade Magazine. In 2002, she was named the Gatorade High School National Player of the Year and the National Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year. Soccer America named her the top college recruit in the country. At the University of North Carolina, she was an education major and played forward for the North Carolina Tar Heels from 2003 through 2006, appearing 97 times, 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 she received the NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award and the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player. In 2008, her No. 20 jersey was retired by the program.

Club career

O'Reilly played for the New Jersey Wildcats of the W-League from 2004 to 2005, winning the championship in 2005. On September 16, 2008, she was allocated to Sky Blue FC of Women's Professional Soccer alongside Natasha Kai and Christie Rampone. As co-captain in the 2009 inaugural season, she appeared in 17 matches and led Sky Blue to an unexpected playoff berth. In the championship playoff match against Los Angeles, she scored the only goal to clinch the title.

After the WPS folded, she trained with and played two matches for the Boston Breakers of the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite in 2012, and was allocated to the Breakers in 2013 for the new National Women's Soccer League. On October 27, 2014, FC Kansas City acquired O'Reilly in a trade that sent Morgan Marlborough and Kassey Kallman to the Breakers. On January 18, 2017, Arsenal announced they had signed O'Reilly; after 38 appearances and four goals, she left the club in summer 2018.

North Carolina Courage, 2018–2019

On June 28, 2018, the North Carolina Courage traded Makenzy Doniak and a 2019 third-round pick for O'Reilly and a 2019 second-round pick. She appeared in eight regular-season games and both playoff games, and the Courage won the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship. In the 2018 Women's International Champions Cup, O'Reilly started and scored in the 10th minute, and the Courage defeated Olympique Lyonnais 1–0. On April 12, 2019, she announced she would retire at the conclusion of the 2019 NWSL season.

Shelbourne, 2022

On July 28, 2022, O'Reilly announced she would come out of retirement to play for Irish champions Shelbourne and take part in their UEFA Women's Champions League campaign. She scored a match-winning goal against ZNK Pomurje on her debut. She also made a substitute appearance in the 2022 FAI Women's Cup Final, as Shelbourne beat Athlone Town 2–0 to secure a League and Cup Double.

International career (2002–2016)

In 2002, while still in high school, O'Reilly was named to the U.S. national team and made her first appearance on March 1, 2002, against Sweden. She was a key member of the USA's U-19 World Cup winning team in 2002, scoring four goals and creating seven. After recovering from a broken fibula, she made the national team roster for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens as the youngest player at nineteen. On August 23, 2004, she scored the match-winning goal in the Olympic semi-final against Germany, and the United States defeated Brazil for the gold medal.

In the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, she scored a critical goal against North Korea in the 69th minute to tie the match 2–2; the United States took the bronze medal, and O'Reilly scored in the 4–1 win against Norway. She was nominated as Sports Illustrated's 2007 Sportsman of the Year. At the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, she scored against Colombia, and the goal was later nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award. At the 2012 Olympics in London, she made a crucial assist in the 123rd minute of the semi-final against Canada, sending a cross to Alex Morgan for the winning goal.

She was selected for her third World Cup in 2015, appearing as a substitute in the quarterfinal against China, and became a World Cup champion on July 5 when the United States defeated Japan 5–2 in the final.

In popular culture

Her profile has appeared in magazines like Fitness, Shape, Teen Vogue, Sports Illustrated, and Boston Magazine. In FIFA 16, she and her U.S. teammates became the first women to appear in EA Sports' FIFA video game series. After winning the 2015 Women's World Cup, O'Reilly and the team received New York City's first ticker tape parade for a women's sports team, and Mayor Bill de Blasio gave each player a key to the city. That October, President Barack Obama honored them at the White House.

She has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, The Today Show, The Rachel Maddow Show, and Good Morning America, and was in the documentary Winning Isn't Everything about UNC women's soccer. In 2018, O'Reilly began co-hosting BBC World Service's BBC World Football alongside Mani Djazmi, Pat Nevin, and Peter Odemwingie. She also co-hosts 'Played In' on SiriusXM FC with Lori Lindsey.