Heather O'Reilly (2007) - Patterson Medal Winners - University of North Carolina Athletics

Heather O'Reilly

Induction:
2007
Class:
2007

2007— Heather O'Reilly: Women's Soccer (East Brunswick, N.J.)
Forward Heather O’Reilly won 2006 National Player-of-the-Year honors from Honda and Soccer America and was a three-time consensus first-team All-America and All-ACC selection. O’Reilly captained the 2006 Tar Heel squad that went 27-1 and won the NCAA championship, pacing the attack with four goals and six assists in the NCAA Tournament. She was third in NCAA history in postseason goals and points. She scored a goal in each of her last four postseason games, including a 3-2 win over Texas A&M in the quarterfinals and a 2-1 win over No. 1 ranked Notre Dame in the 2006 national championship match.

O’Reilly was the Most Valuable Offensive Player at the 2006 College Cup, the second time in her career she won that award (also in 2003 when the Tar Heels won the championship). She also was recipient of the 2007 NCAA Today’s Top 8 Award and Weaver-James Corrigan Honorary Award, was named the 2006 College Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and was ESPN’s Academic All-America of the Year.

She led the Tar Heels to three ACC titles and earned All-ACC Tournament honors in four straight years. O’Reilly finished her career with 59 goals, 49 assists and 167 points. She received community service awards from UNC for work in Carolina Dreams, Get Kids in Action, Adopt a Classroom, Katrina Relief Fund, Carolina Outreach and Share Your Holiday programs.

She played 15 seasons with the United States National Team. She scored 47 goals in more than 200 games and won Olympic gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012 and a World Cup in 2015. While an undergraduate, she scored the game-winning goal in the 2004 Olympic semifinals against Germany.