Heather O'Reilly

Heather O'Reilly is a midfielder and forward for the United States women's national team and plays for Sky Blue FC of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She debuted for the senior national side as a 17-year-old, has won two Olympic gold medals with the U.S. team and will be playing in her second World Cup in 2011.

Born On January 2, 1985, O'Reilly was a two-time Parade All-American in soccer while playing at East Brunswick High School. She scored 143 goals during her high school career, and was honored as the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year after her senior season in 2002. She made her first appearance for the U.S. senior national team while in high school, coming on as a reserve in an Algarve Cup match against Sweden in March, 2002 as a 17-year-old. That same year, O'Reilly helped lead the U.S. team to FIFA's Under-19 Women's World Championship, defeating Canada in the title game.

O'Reilly played college soccer at the University of North Carolina, winning two NCAA titles with the Tar Heels. A regular starter as a forward in her freshman season, O'Reilly scored 16 goals in helping UNC to a perfect 27-0-0 record and the 2003 national title. She was named Offensive MVP of the Final Four after scoring twice in that season's championship game. O'Reilly went on to total 59 goals and 49 assists in her college career, and scored 15 goals in NCAA tournament play over her four years. The Tar Heels also captured another NCAA title in O'Reilly's senior season, when she scored twice in the semifinals and again in the championship game to earn All-American honors for a third time.

A gold-medal winner at the Olympics with the U.S. team 2004 Olympics -- the year she was named as U.S. Soccer's Young Female Athlete of the Year -- O'Reilly continued to progress with the national team. She was a regular starter at the 2006 Algarve Cup, and scored twice at the 2007 World Cup when the U.S. finished third after being eliminated by Brazil.

O'Reilly scored 10 goals for the national team in 2008 and began playing more as a midfielder and winger under new coach Pia Sundhage. She was the second leading scorer for the U.S. team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, contributing two goals and three assists as the Americans claimed another gold medal.

For the inaugural season of Women's Professional Soccer in 2009, O'Reilly was allocated to Sky Blue FC -- in her home state of New Jersey. After qualifying for the playoffs, Sky Blue won three straight playoff games to win the league title, with O'Reilly scoring the winning goal in the championship game. The following season, O'Reilly started 22 matches for Sky Blue and was named to the WPS All-Star team.

A regular starter for the national team during qualifying for the 2011 World Cup, O'Reilly played ten times for her country in 2010 to tie a U.S. record by playing in 62 consecutive national team matches. She was a starter on the right wing for the U.S. at the 2011 World Cup, scoring once in group play to help the Americans advance to the knockout rounds, and then assisting on the opening goal in the semifinal win over France.