Cowgirl soccer reached a new milestone in 2016, notching its third-consecutive 10-win season for the first time in program history. Part of that success has stemmed from a consistent group of talented Australian players competing for UW. One of the former student-athletes who started the trend, Liz O’Reilly, recently made her return to professional soccer back home in Australia. Her time wearing the Brown and Gold raised the bar for Wyoming’s program and prepared her for both professional soccer and her new career.  

Wyoming is one of just three teams in the Mountain West to earn double-digit wins in each of the past three years, and one of only two teams to earn a bid to the last three MW Tournaments. The Wyoming roster has featured a group of Aussies in each of those years, and 2017 will be no different with five student-athletes from Australia including seniors Alisha Bass and Georgia Rowntree. The tradition of Australian players contributing to Wyoming’s success can be traced back to the first Aussie to come to UW: O’Reilly.

O’Reilly’s decorated career is evident with one look through the Cowgirl record book. She recorded 25 assists in her four seasons with UW (2010-13), which remains the most all-time. She’s tied with Bass with five game-winning goals, good for fourth all-time. In her freshman season, she recorded more assists than any other player in the conference. Her sophomore year, she helped the Cowgirls to their most wins in program history and their longest unbeaten streak. She earned First Team All-MW honors in her junior campaign. O’Reilly finished her career holding the school record with 77 starts, a mark that stood until Sammi Dunda and Mandy Meyer surpassed it in 2016. All of those achievements, along with her role as a trend-setter for future Aussie players, almost didn’t happen.

“I was trialing for one of our teams [in Australia] and the UW coaches happened to be here watching the game,” O’Reilly said. “They talked to me after the game and it went from there. I had thought about playing in the United States but I didn’t know how to go about it. It worked out really well from something that was just a coincidence.”

Despite her time playing for the W-League, the top division of women’s professional soccer in Australia, prior to arriving at UW, O’Reilly didn’t know what her college experience would be like.

“I didn’t have any expectations,” O’Reilly said. “I didn’t know anyone and I was the first Aussie to come to UW. I literally had no idea what I was getting myself into.”

O’Reilly turned out to be the first of many Aussie athletes to play for Wyoming. She lists a change in climate as one reason UW appeals to her fellow compatriots, but the Cowgirl program plays a bigger role.

“I think playing for Wyoming is just such a great opportunity, because there’s nothing like it in Australia,” O’Reilly explained. “I can go play in the W-League, but the standards, professionalism and opportunities that Wyoming provides are so much better. Any player I see here around the age of 16 or 17, I always try to talk them into going to the United States to play because of the great experience I had.”

The list of memories O’Reilly made in her time as a Cowgirl is long, but the Wyoming’s 2011 season stands out, specifically.

“There are so many great memories,” O’Reilly said. “The one I’ll always remember is the first time we made it past the first round of the Mountain West Tournament. We played TCU and I scored the overtime goal that got us through to the semifinals. It was an amazing feeling and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”

Not only did Wyoming win its first MW Tournament game in school history, it advanced all the way to the championship game and raised the expectations for what the program was capable of. O’Reilly’s college experience also prepared her for professional soccer back home.

“The athleticism and the strength is probably the biggest difference comparing American soccer to Australian soccer,” O’Reilly said. “American soccer is so focused on fitness and lifting. That really helped me coming back here because I felt a lot fitter.”

O’Reilly made the roster for the Newcastle Jets Women’s team last season, marking her return to the W-League after a five-year hiatus. She appeared in five games before injuries cut short an already abbreviated 12-week season.

For all her accomplishments on the field, O’Reilly’s academic experience at Wyoming is proving to be even more valuable. In 2013, O’Reilly graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science, and she now works as a veterinary nurse.

“I really liked my degree because I was so focused on soccer that I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after. Earning a degree like that gave me the opportunity to study a bunch of different things that I was interested in,” O’Reilly said. “I call it a ‘life major’ because I learned so much about so many different topics. It taught me a lot about people and being a vet nurse, even though we work with animals, a lot of it is dealing with people, too. They bring in their animals and they’re stressed out because their pets are sick. The degree helped me be able to read people and determine how I can better help their situation.”

O’Reilly has not been able to visit the United States since leaving UW, but a return to Laramie is near the top of her to-do list. When recalling her time as a Cowgirl, the impact of her experience is clear.

“You’re surrounded by a good group of people that want to achieve great things,” O’Reilly said. “It seems stressful in the moment but when you take a step back and look at everything, you realize that it was probably one of the best periods of your life.”