University of North Carolina Athletics
From Fetzer To Finley: Carolina Blue Olympics
August 1, 2016 | Women's Soccer, Dave Lohse, Featured Writers
By Dave Lohse, Associate Athletic Communications Director
It seems like yesterday when six former Tar Heel women's soccer players received their gold medals at the 2015 World Cup in Canada. But time does not stand still and here we are 13 months later on the eve of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympics have for the most part been the pride and property of the U.S. Women's National Team, which won the initial title in 1996 and went on to win gold in 2004, 2008 and 2012. It has faltered only once, settling for silver at the 2000 Olympic Games.
Six Tar Heels will be on full rosters at this year's Olympics and two more will be in Rio as U.S. Team alternates. The six active players bring the overall participation of UNC players in six Olympic Games to 33. That's an astounding number.
Things kick off on Wednesday when the United States plays New Zealand at 6 p.m. Eastern Time in Belo Horizonte. You can catch the match on NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), which is Channel 314 on Time Warner Cable in the Triangle Region of North Carolina. It's ironic that these two teams match up in the first round of group play as Katie Bowen is on the roster for the Football Ferns, the only UNC alumna to make an Olympic squad other than the U.S.'s. Bowen graduated from Carolina last May and was a member of the 2012 NCAA championship team as a freshman.
On the other side of the ball, Bowen will go face-to-face against Tar Heel alumna Crystal Dunn, Class of 2014, who played with Bowen two years in Chapel Hill. Other members of the American side are Tobin Heath, '10; Meghan Klingenberg, '11; Whitney Engen, '10; and Allie Long, '09. U.S. Team alternates are Heather O'Reilly, '07, and Ashlyn Harris, '10. The alternates will basically be involved in all Olympic activities with their U.S. teammates save dressing for and playing in games. Long, Dunn, Engen, Klingenberg and Bowen are first-time Olympians while Heath is appearing in her third Olympic Games, having already captured gold in 2008 and 2012. Klingenberg was an alternate on the U.S. Team in London the last time out.
The United States will benefit from the presence of O'Reilly in Rio, even in her role as alternate. She was likely the last cut to the American roster. While the World Cup allows 23 players to appear on official rosters, at the Olympics the figure is cut to 18. This marks the end of a long string of major international tournament appearances for O'Reilly, who had made every team for the Olympics or World Cup since 2004. O'Reilly is such a fierce competitor that I know it must have been a major disappointment to have not made this team but she is also the ultimate team player and I guarantee since the day the final roster was named, she has done everything in her power in her spot as an alternate to make the U.S. team better prepared for what it will face in the Southern Hemisphere beginning this week.
Dunn is on the opposite end of the spectrum. She is the second youngest member of the U.S. Team and she has been grooming herself for this appearance since she was the last player cut from the American squad that went to Canada for the 2015 World Cup. Dunn has joined Heath and Klingenberg as starters on the U.S. squad in 2016. Klingenberg has made 14 starts this calendar year while Heath and Dunn have started 11 times each. Dunn ranks second on the U.S. team in goals scored in 2016 with 10, one behind Alex Morgan.
When you compare O'Reilly and Dunn's collegiate careers, there are striking similarities. O'Reilly missed the 2003 World Cup after suffering a broken leg that also delayed the start of her freshman season at Carolina. Having made her first National Team appearance in 2002 while in high school, much was expected of her when she got to Carolina. During the Tar Heels' 2003 undefeated national championship season the Tar Heels had a superstar-laden roster that included Catherine Reddick, Lindsay Tarpley and Lori Chalupny. O'Reilly was able to recover completely from her broken leg and she tore things up in the NCAA Tournament, being named the Tournament's Most Valuable Offensive player as Carolina outscored its opponents 32-0 over six games.
For the next two years, Carolina fell in the third round and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament despite dominating its opponents. O'Reilly returned for her senior year intent on returning Carolina to the NCAA title. She delivered. After the Tar Heels dropped their season opener, Carolina ran off 27 wins in a row. O'Reilly scored the insurance goal in UNC's 2-0 win over UCLA in the semifinals and she opened the scoring in Carolina's 2-1 championship game victory over Notre Dame.
When Dunn arrived at Carolina in 2010, UNC had won three of the previous four NCAA titles. But Carolina fell in the NCAA third round in her first two years. By the time she was a junior Dunn knew she had to deliver a championship to Chapel Hill. She missed the opening third of the season playing on the U.S. U20 Team which won the World Cup in Japan. The Tar Heels played one of the nation's arduous schedules which helped it earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament despite a won-loss record which was not sterling by Carolina standards. Once post-season began, Dunn was at her best. She scored a late goal to force overtime against Baylor in the third round as the Tar Heels prevailed in penalty kicks. She scored both goals in a tension-filled 2-1 win over BYU in the quarterfinals in Provo, Utah. The Tar Heels went double overtime again in the NCAA semifinals against Stanford and Dunn assisted Kealia Ohai on the golden goal. Two days later, Carolina beat Penn State 4-1 for the national championship. Just as O'Reilly was named National Player of the Year in 2006, Dunn earned the honor in 2012.
If this is a changing of the guard then we must pay proper tribute to O'Reilly's amazing national team career. She has 230 international caps, 195 more than Dunn, who may at some juncture reach that level herself. O'Reilly has played on the team in 15 different seasons from 2002-16. She has won three Olympic gold medals and a World Cup championship. O'Reilly has been a part of two of the most significant goals in U.S. Olympic history. In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the rising college sophomore took a pass from Mia Hamm and scored in overtime to lift the United States past Germany 2-1. That semifinal round win over the 2003 World Cup champions sent the U.S. Team to the finals where it beat Brazil 2-1 in overtime three days later to claim the gold medal.
Fast forward to 2012 when the U.S. and Canada played an epic semifinal match in Manchester, England. O'Reilly came on as a late game substitute. In the last minute of extra time, O'Reilly embarked on a dead sprint down the right side, beating her defender and launching a picture perfect cross that landed right on the head of Alex Morgan who put away the winning goal from six yards out. The U.S. survived the Canadians 4-3 in overtime and three days later defeated Japan 2-1 for the gold medal. Morgan was the hero but as I wrote at the time for her winning tally that O'Reilly's cross was being overlooked. Of course, I am biased. But without the world-class feed from the right sideline from O'Reilly, the game is headed to penalty kicks and a who know what outcome.
We have arrived at another Olympic Games and again they have a Carolina Blue hue with so many Tar Heels participating. Four members of the U.S. side are seeking first time gold. Heath is seeking her third. And three-time gold medalist O'Reilly, like the trooper she is, will be doing everything she can to bring home another title for the Red, White and Blue. HAO, as friends call her, has been this team's hidden treasure for a decade and a half. Good luck to the USA and we are rooting for your success as well Katie Bowen.
