Dec. 27, 2004

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Junior midfielder Lori Chalupny and sophomore forward Heather O'Reilly have been named finalists for the 2004 Soccer Buzz Player of the Year accolade. The internet magazine has named 12 finalists for the award, which will be decided by a vote of NCAA Division I college coaches and announced in early January.

Forward Jaime Gilbert is one of the 12 finalists for the Soccer Buzz Freshman of the Year Award. The first-year player from North Andover, Mass. was Carolina's second leading scorer this year with 34 points as she scored 11 goals and had 12 assists. Other finalists for the freshman of the year award are Notre Dame forward Amanda Cinalli, Ohio State midfielder Lara Dickenmann, Northwestern forward Kelsey Hans, Texas midfielder Caitlin Kennedy, Princeton midfielder Diana Matheson, Boston College forward Kia McNeill, Texas A&M forward Ashlee Pistorius, Penn State defender Denay Riley, Arizona goalkeeper McCall Smith, Virginia Tech forward Ashley Stinson and Oregon State forward Jodie Taylor.

Heather O'Reilly, a native of East Brunswick, N.J., led the Tar Heels in scoring this past season with 37 points on 13 goals and 11 assists. Lori Chalupny. a St. Louis, Mo. native, also had an outstanding season for UNC and like O'Reilly was named a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and a first-team All-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Chalupny had 17 points this year on six goals and five assists.

The Tar Heel duo are joined by Stanford senior goalkeeper Nicole Barnhardt, Tennessee senior defender Keeley Dowling, Virginia junior midfielder Sarah Huffman, Rutgers senior midfielder Carli Lloyd, Santa Clara senior midfielder Leslie Osborne, Portland junior forward Christine Sinclair, Notre Dame senior defender Melissa Tancredi, Notre Dame junior forward Katie Thorlakson, Nebraska sophomore forward Brittany Tumko and Penn State junior forward Tiffany Weimer as the award finalists.