By Jenifer D. Braun GSN'04, Rutgers Office of Communications

When the bus carrying the U.S. women’s Olympic soccer team pulled up to the gleaming Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center in the heart of Rutgers’ Piscataway athletic complex, self-described “for-sure Jersey girl” Casey Murphy was the first to come bounding out.

The Bridgewater native and 2019 Rutgers graduate strode up the steps and into the lobby to envelope Mike O’Neill, the university’s head soccer coach since 2014, in a bear hug.

“Coach Mike is like a second dad to me,” she said during a sideline chat with the press that clustered around her at the university’s Miller Family Soccer Complex practice field. “Seeing him and giving him a hug was great.” 

It was a joyful reunion for both as Murphy returned to the campus not just as an alumna and former star of the university’s soccer program, but as one of the goalkeepers selected for the United States women’s Olympic soccer team. 

“Casey is representing our country at the highest level, and she represents Rutgers in everything she does,” O’Neill said. “Her success means a lot to us, and we’re all behind her.”

It was at Rutgers where Murphy dominated NCAA soccer during her undergraduate years, winning dozens of accolades including Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year in 2015 and 2017. On July 9, she was among the 18-member Olympic squad that practiced at Rutgers ahead of their departure for the 2024 Paris games. 

That New Jersey swing included a stop in Harrison to play a friendly game against Mexico at the Red Bull Arena, which they won, 1-0. The team's first game at the Olympics will come one day before Paris’ opening ceremonies, when the U.S. team faces Zambia in Nice at 3 p.m. ET on July 25. (How to watch).

The importance of Murphy’s Rutgers homecoming was underlined by a passel of local camera crews that followed Murphy onto the practice field. Under a sweltering sun, she and fellow Olympic goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher practiced defending a goal while jumping over obstacles and catching batons tossed at them. 

“Feet, feet, feet!” a trainer yelled. “Make good decisions with your feet!”

Later, as the team huddled, Murphy’s blonde ponytail rose above the circle of players. At 6 feet, 1 inch, she’s the tallest goalkeeper in U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) history.

Murphy has played soccer since childhood and been a standout athlete in the sport almost as long. 

“I was such a competitive kid,” she said. “My parents got me into a little bit of everything. I always loved being on a team. I always loved being outside, and from a young age, I just loved soccer.”

In addition to youth recreational and travel teams, Murphy played for the Bridgewater Soccer Academy and the Player’s Development Academy—where she met Coach O’Neill—before becoming an all-state athlete while at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. She then headed to Rutgers, where she would achieve a degree in communications and all-star status as a collegiate player. She chose to attend Rutgers, she said, “because of the culture here, the family atmosphere.”

She broke numerous goalkeeping records for the university and the Big Ten conference, and she remains Rutgers’ all-time shut-out leader—with a whopping 45—and posted two All-America seasons. 

She also met Chris Mirabelli SAS’18, GSNB’20 at Rutgers. A fellow athlete who won the Big Ten javelin championship in 2019 among many other accolades, he persuaded her to go out to dinner with him after scoring four goals against her in an informal shootout. They married in December 2023 and were featured in People magazine.

It was her time at Rutgers, Murphy says, that made her the player she is today.

“I had an amazing experience at Rutgers,” she said. “It was the starting point for my professional career, and it instilled great habits in me. I’m very thankful to have started playing here.”

Since graduating, soccer has taken Murphy around the globe. She played professionally in France, with Montpellier HSC, then in the U.S. for Seattle’s Reign FC and now for the North Carolina Courage, where she holds the club’s shutout record and is the team’s all-time leader in wins. 

Her first “cap” (appearance) with the USWNT came in 2021. That first game, against Australia, was also her first shutout for the team. 

Preparing for the Olympics or any other international tournament doesn’t change her practice routine. 

“I pride myself on showing up every day with energy, being positive and working hard,” she said. “No wasted moments—that’s my mentality.”

And while the world is watching her and her USWNT teammates, Murphy will still be keeping an eye on her alma mater. She still follows her old team’s games, she said, and remains friends with a number of current Rutgers players.

After her practice with her Olympic teammates at Rutgers, Murphy posted a gallery of photos from the day on her Instagram page with the caption, “Working from home this week.”

For another Rutgers women's soccer team connection, read this story about Rutgers alumna Denise Reddy, a coach for the Olympic team.

Photos: Courtesy of Rutgers Athletics/Sarah Snyder. Caption top: From left, Assistant Coach Ryan Nigro, Murphy, Head Coach Mike O'Neill, Olympics assistant coach and Rutgers alumna Denise Reddy, and Director of Operations Trish DiPaolo. 

This story was originally published in Rutgers Today on July 23, 2024.