Dec. 3, 2006

By Matt Meyers

Special to CSTV.com

CARY, N.C.-- With a starting lineup that included six freshman, youth has been all the rage with the North Carolina women's soccer team. While those freshmen were instrumental in the 2-1 victory over Notre Dame that gave the Tar Heels their 18^th NCAA title, they could not have done it without their senior star.

In her final game as a collegian, forward Heather O'Reilly had a goal and an assist and helped end a two-season title drought in Chapel Hill.

"She is a world-class player," said Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum. "I think her pace is tough to deal with. She is sophisticated. She knows where to run and how to run. Being one of the three finalists for the Hermann (Award), she is obviously one of the top players in the country and I think she is a great player."

While O'Reilly was putting the finishing touches on her remarkable career this weekend with two goals and an assist, freshman Casey Nogueira was announcing the beginning of hers. Though Nogueira was part of North Carolina's heralded recruiting class, Sunday was the first start of her career in place of senior Libby Guess who has been bothered by a nagging knee injury. Nogueira already earned her place in Carolina soccer lore on Friday with a rocket in the 84^th minute against UCLA to give the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead in a game they would win 2-0. She solidified her status as a star in the making on Sunday.

"Her transformation this season was to go from a girl who was just good with the ball to a girl that competes and helps teams win," Carolina coach Anson Dorrance said of Nogueira, who graduated high school a year early to join the Tar Heels and won't turn 18 until February.
 

In the 18^th minute of the first half, Nogueira carried the ball past midfield on the right wing before nimbly leading a streaking O'Reilly down the middle of the field with a diagonal through ball. With O'Reilly behind the defense, Notre Dame goalkeeper Lauren Karas came way off her line and outside the goal box to try and clear the ball. O'Reilly cut it the ball to her left and into the box before calmly depositing it in the back of the net. It was her 15^th career goal in the NCAA tournament, tying her with Mia Hamm for second in Carolina history behind Lindsay Tarpley.

"I thought it was at an angle and from where I was sitting I didn't think we needed to have Lauren out of the goal," Waldrum said. "I thought we had about 20-25 yards of space that we might have been able to recover with a center back. And since it was in a wide position, I thought Lauren needed to stay back. Why she chose to go, I don't really know. I think we would have preferred her to stay and cover it with a central player."

The Tar Heels dominated possession for much of the first-half but could not add another tally as Karas came up with two diving saves. It didn't take long into the second half for Carolina to put the game away.

Freshman forward Whitney Engen sent a gorgeous cross from the right wing that was powerfully headed home by Nogueira to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead. It was O'Reilly, however, that gave Engen the ball for her team-leading 16^th assist of the year. It was also her 40^th point, which put her one ahead of sophomore midfielder Yael Averbuch for the team lead.

Because Notre Dame added a late goal from Brittany Bock, Nogueira's goal was the game-winner, which gave her two for the weekend.

Nogueira was not the only freshman to make a major impact on Sunday. Midfielder Nikki Washington was a factor from touchline to touchline with her speed and ability to win 50-50 balls. Her counterpart on the left side, freshman Tobin Heath, continually wreaked havoc with her marvelous one-on-one skill and defender Kristi Eveland was a rock in preventing any sort of pressure from Kerri Hanks, Notre Dame's stud striker and the nation's leading scorer with 65 points. Nogueira, Heath and Eveland were all named to the all-tournament team, and Dorrance is confident we have not seen the last of them.

"I just don't get the feeling this a complacent bunch and trust me, I am severely critical," Dorrance said of his freshman. "As far as I'm concerned no one is good enough, there is always another level and not one of their heads is going to swell up or I will pound it back to its original size."

With such an abundance of freshman talent, Carolina is in great position to continue their dominance, but O'Reilly is not the type of player that can easily be replaced. With two goals over the weekend, she tied Tarpley and Meredith Florance for 10^th on Carolina's all-time scoring list with 59 goals. The name's above her on that list are a who's who of women's soccer and includes the likes of Cindy Parlow, Kristine Lilly and of course, Mia Hamm who is the school's all-time leading scorer with 103 goals.

Dorrance, for one, had a hard time putting O'Reilly's career in perspective. She joined the Tar Heels in 2003 as the top recruit in the country, but had broken her leg that summer and her debut with the Tar Heels was delayed.

"The way you have to look at her career, it is actually quite stunning," Dorrance said. "What was fun about watching her her freshman year was as soon as she got on track, and got healthy and fit, she started started scoring a goal a game right through the tournament and took us to the national championship.

"Her sophomore year she decides to go off to Greece and win an Olympic gold medal," he continued. "You know, what the heck, what a way to spend your sophomore year. Her junior year she spent wining a spot as a starter on the full U.S. National team, which is the greatest team in the world and her senior year she comes back and basically leads us to a national championship. I think that is a pretty above-average resume."

O'Reilly will move on playing with the national team full-time, but recognizes the experience she had as a Tar Heel is unique.

"It's truly an honor to play for the U.S. and play for your country and score for your country, but there is something special about playing for the University of North Carolina, the tradition involved and the dynasty that we are now proving we are continuing," she said. "I like playing for my school team because these are the girls you spend day after day with, they are your best friends on and off the field. . .It was so rewarding to get this win, and this is one of the best days of my life."

After losing their season opener to Texas A&M, Carolina won 27 straight games and tied a school record for wins. It was Notre Dame's first loss of the season and they finished 25-1-1.

"Ever since we've been here we've been asked about Carolina this and Carolina that and the aura of Carolina," Waldrum said. "It's a great legacy. But there is so much parity now in women's college soccer. It's not going to be duplicated."

This may be true and it is unlikely anyone will ever replicate Tar Heels run of nine consecutive titles from 1986-1994, but with the type of talent that Carolina continues to bring in, their place as the elite program in women's soccer is secure.