Jan. 30, 2004

BERKELEY, CALIF. - U.S. national team forward and University of North Carolina freshman phenom Heather O'Reilly was named Friday as Soccer America's choice as the nation's top college women's freshman. The University of North Carolina star, who scored eight of her 16 goals during the Tar Heels' march through the NCAA tournament toward its 18th national championship, heads Soccer America's 2003 College Women's All-America team.

The 11-player team features six players from the Atlantic Coast Conference, including O'Reilly's Carolina teammate, defender Jessica Maxwell. Other ACC selections are Clemson forward Courtney Foster, Florida State defender Kelly Rowland and midfielder India Trotter, and Virginia defender Becky Sauerbrunn.

Also honored are Florida defender Melanie Booth, Notre Dame midfielder Jen Buczkowski, Connecticut defender-midfielder-forward Niki Cross, Portland defender Stephanie Lopez and Mississippi State goalkeeper Luisa Marzotto.

Booth is a Canadian national-teamer, and Marzotto was Australia's goalkeeper at the 2002 FIFA Under-19 World Championship, an event in which O'Reilly and Booth also competed. Buczkowski, Lopez and Sauerbrunn are star defenders for the current U.S. U-19 team. O'Reilly, Maxwell, Rowland and Trotter also are in the U-19 pool.

O'Reilly, a speedy forward with good technique and a strong finishing sense, was selected the College Cup's Offensive MVP after scoring a superb goal in North Carolina's semifinal triumph over UCLA and two more goals in its title-game romp over Connecticut. She started slowly last fall following a broken leg and ankle-ligament surgery that sidelined her last summer and kept her off the Americans' Women's World Cup roster. Soccer America also selected O'Reilly as one of its 11 College Women's MVPs for last fall, the only freshman honored. SA named her nation's No. 1 recruit last spring,

The selections were drawn from a deep and outstanding freshman class that was particularly strong defensively. Six backline players and two primarily holding midfielders are among the 11 All-Americans. O'Reilly is currently in China with the U.S. women for the annual Four Nations tournament. A national-team regular while still in high school, she is the seventh North Carolina player selected Soccer America's Freshman of the Year since 1988. Preceding her were Kristine Lilly (1989), Tisha Venturini (1991), Staci Wilson (1994), Cindy Parlow (1995), Laurie Schwoy (1996) and Lindsay Tarpley (2002).