July 17, 2004

By Brent Johnson, CollegeSports.com

Last year, Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly were the heart and soul of a North Carolina women's soccer team that was virtually invincible.

This year, though, the Tar Heel duo will be looking to trade collegiate greatness for Olympic gold.

Having helped UNC to a national championship and a perfect 27-0 record last fall, Tarpley and O'Reilly will travel to Athens, Greece this summer as the only collegiate members of the United States Olympic Women's Soccer team.

"It's really cool," said O'Reilly, who was named National Freshman of the Year last season. "I still see commercials [for the Olympics] on TV, and it's pretty cool to know we're going there."

Tarpley and O'Reilly will both play forward for the U.S., continuing a relationship that began when they were both selected to the U.S. national team in 2002.

The attacking duo became an explosive combination on the field that year, helping the U.S. Under-19 squad capture its first-ever gold medal with a 1-0 win over Canada in the World Championship final.

Off the field, a personal friendship also blossomed between the two.

"When you've experienced so much with someone, you cherish everything together," said Tarpley, who was named National Player of the Year after leading the country with 73 points for the Tar Heels last season.

"Everything we've done, we've been there for each other."

Tarpley was in the middle of an explosive freshman season at UNC when O'Reilly gained national attention as a one of soccer's rising phenoms during her senior season at East Brunswick High School in New Jersey.

By season's end, Tarpley was named National Freshman of the Year after scoring 47 points, with 16 goals for the Tar Heels, and O'Reilly was honored as the consensus national high school player of the year, eventually signing on to play for UNC the following season.

Both were poised to make the national team once again in 2003, but O'Reilly suffered a broken leg in a game against Ireland, forcing her to miss the cut.

"I was definitely pretty gutted," she said. "But things get thrown at you like that. I worked hard to get back, but it was obviously very disappointing. It's tough when you invest so much in something and you don't get to see the final product."

Tarpley and the rest of the 2003 national team went on to suffer heartbreak in the World Cup, losing to Germany, 3-0, in the semifinals.

O'Reilly, however, excelled in her first season of collegiate soccer, shaking off a rocky start to score 13 goals over the final 12 games of the year -- including a UNC-record eight goals in the NCAA Tournament (an achievement that toppled Mia Hamm's mark of six in 1993).

"This past college season was really the only time I played soccer for seven days a week at a really high level," said the 19-year old, also the youngest player on the U.S. squad. "And that's what I get with the national team. I don't think I'd be able to do it mentally and physically without having that year under my belt."

Having Tarpley on the team is also a plus.

"It's very helpful to have a familiar face [around]," O'Reilly said. "We read each other on the field well, and off the field, too."