Kristine Lilly

Kristine Marie Lilly Heavey (Lilly; born July 22, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player.

Lilly made her debut for the United States national team in 1987, when she was still attending high school.

Lilly competed as a student-athlete, playing for the university's North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team from 1989 to 1992.

During her time there, she won the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship every year she played.

She won the Hermann Trophy as a junior in 1991.

As a senior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nations's top soccer player.

Lilly has participated in the 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007 editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

She is a two-time World Cup champion, winning in 1991 and 1999; during extra time of the '99 Final against China, Lilly, standing on the goal line, blocked a Chinese shot which had passed goalkeeper Briana Scurry - since the tournament took place with the golden goal rule in effect, the game would have been over if China had scored - and in the ensuing shootout, she scored the goal which would give the US the lead.

To honor her time with the school, North Carolina retired her #15 jersey in 1994.

Lilly began her career with Tyresö FF of Sweden in 1994.

She spent one season with the club before returning to the United States.

She was the only woman in the all-male professional indoor league, following in the footsteps of Collette Cunningham and Shannon Presley who had played in the league sparingly in 1994.

On August 20, 1995, Lilly joined Washington Warthogs of the now-defunct Continental Indoor Soccer League.

Lilly has also competed in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 editions of the Olympic Games.

Lilly joined W-League side Delaware Genies in 1998.

With the club, she appeared in four games, scoring five goals and providing two assists.

During her international career, she surpassed the previous women's world record of 151 caps, held by Norway's Heidi Støre, on May 21, 1998.

On January 30, 1999, she surpassed what was then the men's record of 164 caps, held by Adnan Al-Talyani of the United Arab Emirates.

February 2001 saw the formation of the world's first women's professional soccer league in which all the players were paid.

Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) had its inaugural season in 2001.

Lilly was the team captain and a founding member of Boston Breakers.

In her first season with the team, she appeared in all twenty-one matches and played every minute of the season.

She led the league in assists with eleven and added an additional three goals.

For her performance, she was named First Team All-WUSA.

In 2002, she started in a further nineteen games.

She increased her point total for the season, scoring eight goals and assisting on thirteen others.

She was again named First Team All-WUSA and was a starter on the WUSA North All-Star Team.

In 2003 Lilly started all nineteen games in which she played, chipping in three goals and four assists and again being named to First Team All-WUSA, the only player in the history of the league to do so.

Following the 2003 season, the WUSA ceased operations.

Following the termination of the league, Lilly followed former Boston Breakers head coach Pia Sundhage to Sweden to play for Damallsvenskan club KIF Örebro DFF in 2005.

There she was joined by fellow USWNT teammate Christie Welsh as well as USWNT and Boston Breakers teammate, Kate Markgraf.

In late-2006 and early-2007, the formation of a new women's league took shape under the name of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS).

When she played against North Korea on September 11, 2007, in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, she became the first woman (and only the third player overall) to participate in five different World Cup Finals; by scoring a goal against England on September 22, 2007, she became the oldest woman to score in the World Cup.

On September 16, 2008, Lilly was allocated to Boston Breakers along with USWNT teammates Angela Hucles and Heather Mitts.

The inaugural 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season saw Lilly appear in all twenty games (playing every minute) and score three goals with three assists.

She was a member of the United States women's national team for 23 years and is the most-capped football player in the history of the sport (men's or women's), gaining her 354th and final cap against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in November 2010.

Lilly scored 130 international goals for the US national team, making her the team's third-highest goal scorer behind Mia Hamm's 158 goals, and Abby Wambach's 184.

Lilly was born in New York City and attended Wilton High School in Wilton, Connecticut.

While still attending high school, Lilly became a member of the United States women's national team.

She was recruited by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.