.jpg) Heck withNorth Carolina in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ryleigh Anne Heck | ||
| Born | (2004-03-30)March 30, 2004 (age 21) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | North Carolina Tar Heels | ||
| National team | |||
| Years | Team | Caps | |
| 2022– | United States | 0 | |
| 2023– | U21 United States | 9 (0) | |
| 2021– | United States (indoor) | 10 (7) | |
Ryleigh Anne Heck (born March 30, 2004) is an American collegefield hockey player for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels. She has won twoNCAA championships with the Tar Heels, in2022 and2023, and was named theNFHCA national player of the year in 2023.
Heck was a three-time All-American and three-time state champion atEastern Regional High School in New Jersey.[1] She played alongside her senior sister Kara as a freshman in 2018, scoring 44 goals as the team became undefeatedTournament of Champions winners.[2][3] She had been a center midfielder on her club team but was moved to center forward during her first season at Eastern.[4] She totaled 78 goals in 25 games as a sophomore in 2019, as the team finished runners-up in the Tournament of Champions.[2] She scored 76 goals in 14 games in the abbreviated 2020 season, when the state playoffs were not held.[5][6] In her senior year in 2021, she broke the national single-season scoring record with 125 goals, with her last one being the game winner to claim her second Tournament of Champions.[7][8] She was named theUSA Today Field Hockey Player of the Year.[8]
Heck started every game for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels as a freshman in 2022, receivingAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Year, first-team All-ACC, and second-team All-American honors.[9] She helped the team go undefeated en route to winning the2022 NCAA championship, where she opened scoring in the final to help beatNorthwestern 2–1.[10] As a sophomore in 2023, she led the team in scoring with 34 points on 13 goals and 8 assists, finishing the season with the winning goal of the title game penalty shootout in the2023 NCAA tournament.[11][12] She earned All-ACC and All-American first-team honors, theNFHCA National Player of the Year award, and theHonda Sports Award as the country's best player.[6][9]
Heck was first called up to camp with theUnited States senior national team in July 2022 ahead of the2022–23 Women's FIH Pro League.[13] She won gold with thenational under-21 team at the2023 Women's Junior Pan American Championship and competed at the2023 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup.[14]
Inindoor hockey, Heck represented the United States on the winning team at the2021 and2024 Women's Indoor Pan American Cup.[14]
Heck was raised in Shamong, New Jersey and now resides inOcean City, New Jersey, the youngest of four children of Roy and Kerry Heck.[9][15] Her father and her brother Jordan played college basketball atStockton University; her mother played forJames Madison's field hockey andlacrosse teams and coached Heck's last high school season; her brother Andrew played football atUrsinus College; her sister, Kara, played field hockey at [[Boston College and graduated in May 2024 and now plays field hockey at Rutgers University while attending Graduate School.[9][15] Heck trained with the WC Eagles field hockey club.[1]
