Sport: Soccer
Born: January 2, 1985
Town: East Brunswick, New Jersey
Heather Ann O’Reilly was born January 2, 1985 in East Brunswick, NJ. She was the last of four children—and the only girl—born to Carol and Andrew O’Reilly, who had been a track All-American as a college student in the 1970s. Heather was a standout in youth soccer and basketball as a girl, and was one of the top athletes at St. Bartholomew’s a Catholic K-8 school in her hometown.
Heather enrolled at East Brunswick High School in 1999 and played four years of varsity soccer and three years of basketball for the Bears. The girls’ soccer program was one of the best in the nation; during the 1980s and 1990s, it was a rare thing for the girls’ team to not win a conference championship. In fact, the Bears had won 19 straight when Heather joined the team as a freshman.
Playing primarily as an attacking midfielder, Heather scored 143 goals in four years. As a junior in 2001, she led East Brunswick to the 2001 state championship. She also began her career with the women’s national team as a junior; her first game came against Sweden in March of 2002. Later that year, she helped the US win the inaugural U-20 Women’s World Cup. During her senior year at EBHS, Heather made several appearances for Team USA and was named national Player of the Year. In a World Cup qualifier against Mexico, she subbed in for Mia Hamm, drawing unavoidable comparisons.
Heather was a National Honor Society member and the top recruiting target in the country, so she had her pick of colleges. She chose North Carolina, Hamm’s alma mater, joining a great program coached by Anson Dorrance. In 2003, during her freshman year, the Tar Heels went 27–0 and won the national championship. The team was led by Cat Reddick, but it was Heather who was named the top offensive player in the NCAA Tournament, netting 8 goals in six games. Carolina did not allow a single goal in the competition, defeating UConn 6–0 in the final
The following summer, Heather was a member of the 2004 Olympic squad at the age of 19. She scored a goal against Germany in the semifinals to help the Americans reach the gold-medal final, where they beat Brazil 2–1 on a goal by Abby Wambach in extra time.
UNC went 43–2–3 during Heather’s sophomore and junior years. She was named the ACC’s Offensive Player of the Year as a junior in 2005. As a senior in 2006, she led the Tar Heels to a 27–1–0 record and the ACC championship. UNC went on to win the national title and Heather was named the outstanding offensive player in the tournament for the second time in her career.
In 97 college games, Heather accounted for 108 goals—49 by assist and 59 scored herself. ESPN named her the 2006 Player of the Year. During her college years, Heather also played for the New Jersey Wildcats of the USL’s W-League, helping them win the W-League championship in 2005.
In 2007, Heather donned the USA uniform during the Women’s World Cup. She scored a pair of dramatic goals during the competition, but the Americans had to settle for bronze. Even so, Sports Illustrated nominated her as a finalist for Sportsperson of the Year. In 2008, Heather led Team USA to Olympic gold again. She scored against New Zealand and Japan, and played well in the 1–0 upset of Brazil in the final.
When the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) league started in 2009, Heather joined Sky Blue FC along with Olympic teammate and fellow New Jerseyan Christie Pearce. After the club’s first coach was fired and its second resigned, Pearce became player-coach and led Sky Blue to an improbable league championship. In the final against the Los Angeles Sol, Heather scored 16 minutes into the match and let the defense do the rest for an epic 1–0 upset.
In 2011, Heather married Dave Werry, a hockey player turned lacrosse star whom she met at UNC. When Dave enrolled at Harvard Business School the following year, Heather moved to the Boston Breakers of the Women’s Premier Soccer League, a semipro circuit that succeeded the WPS after it folded.
Not that she had a lot of free time. Heather was part of the World Cup team in 2011 and scored three goals in the competition, which ended with a loss in the final to Germany. In 2012, she scored her first hat trick for Team USA in a January qualifier against the Dominican Republic. During the 2012 Olympics, Heather made the key play in the semifinals against Canada, putting a perfect cross on the head of Alex Morgan, who scored the goal that sent Team USA to the final against Japan. The Americans went on to beat Japan 2–1 to win gold. By the end of 2012, Heather had made 179 international appearances, and scored 36 goals. During that time she set a team record by appearing in 74 consecutive matches.
In the years that followed, Heather continued to play professionally, suiting up for the Breakers, FC Kansas City and the North Carolina Courage. She also played 38 games for Arsenal in the Women’s Super League in the UK.
Naturally, Heather’s fans expected her to compete in the 2016 Olympics. However, despite having the most caps on Team USA, she was left off the roster by coach Jim Ellis, being named an alternate instead. The women went down to one of their worst defeats ever, falling to Sweden in the Round of 8. Heather decided it was time to go, and announced that she would retire from the national team. She played her final international match against Thailand that September, setting up the game’s first goal and scoring the third in a 9–0 victory. It was her 55th career international assist to go with 47 career goals in 231 appearances.
As her career wound down, Heather continued to be a drawing card in the National Women’s Soccer League, which began play in 2013. In 2018, as a member of the Carolina Courage, Heather scored the “golden goal” in the final of the inaugural Women’s International Champions Cup, a 1–0 victory over French club Olympique Lyonnaise. Carolina also won the NWSL title in 2018 and 2019. With a minute left in the 2019 final—a 4–0 win over the Chicago Red Stars—she was removed from the match and received a standing ovation in what everyone in the stadium knew was her final appearance on a soccer field.