It’s hard to miss University of Maine women’s soccer midfielder Kristina Kelly out on the soccer pitch these days.
She is the one wearing the mask to protect the broken nose she sustained in the regular season finale, a 1-0 victory at New Hampshire.
But that hasn’t kept her on the sidelines.
She played 80 of the 90 minutes in UMaine’s 2-0 America East semifinal win over UMass Lowell and 71 in the 3-0 championship game triumph over New Hampshire. And the Central Connecticut State transfer will be in the starting lineup for Friday night’s 8 p.m. NCAA Tournament game at Wisconsin.
The tournament appearance — Kelly’s fourth — is the latest achievement in the Lincolnville native’s remarkable soccer career. It will be the graduate student’s second such game with UMaine, which lost to Harvard 3-0 last year in the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Kelly’s accomplishments include being named the National Player of the Year her senior year at Camden Hills High School in Rockport after leading the Windjammers to their fourth straight Class A soccer championship. She was believed to be the first athlete from Maine to receive the honor in any sport.
Her 159 career goals is third most all-time in the state, including boys and girls.
Only Lee Academy’s Shelby Pickering (178) and Waterville’s Jordan Pellerin (171) scored more.
Kelly was chosen to the Northeast Conference’s All-Rookie team and also was an all-NEC first teamer at CCSU before coming to Maine, where she was an All-America East second teamer a year ago and a first-teamer this fall.
Kelly began playing soccer when she was 6 years old but said she never envisioned having the career she has had.
“I didn’t expect to go Division I. I’m really lucky to be in this position and I’m really thankful for the opportunity,” said Kelly, who’s excited to see what UMaine can do in the game against Wisconsin.
She is having the best season of her college career with three goals and five assists in 17 games, including a game-winning goal.
She is fifth on the team in scoring and in minutes played among non-goalkeepers.
“My confidence has gotten a lot better. I’m playing quicker and I’ve gotten stronger,” said Kelly, who added that she has been much more aggressive heading the ball after being cautious due to four bad concussions she sustained in youth and high school soccer.
“I’m not afraid of anything any more,” she said. “They had told me if I had another concussion, they were going to evaluate whether or not I should play any more. But I’m not going to ever play again after this season anyway so I may as well head the ball.”
It was heading the ball that caused her now-broken nose.
“A New Hampshire girl was trying to head the ball backwards and I was trying to head it forward and she got my nose,” Kelly said.
The 5-foot-4 midfielder made an immediate impact at Maine with her speed, skill and tenacity.
“She means everything to us,” said UMaine senior forward and leading scorer Abby Kraemer. “She is like a little Energizer bunny in the midfield. She is like a ball magnet. Any time the ball is within a 5-meter radius of her or even if it isn’t in her general vicinity, she will find a way to get on the ball and win it for us.”
Her energy and work ethic rubs off on the team, UMaine head coach Scott Atherley said.
“That is especially important in the midfield because we’re a high pressing team and we know we can take risks because of her ability to cover,” Atherley said.
He added that Kelly can be intimidating to play against because “she never holds back from a tackle” and she can accelerate and change directions quickly.
She is glad she transferred to UMaine so she could represent her state and so her parents, Jack and Erika, and other family members and friends can watch her play.
And it has served as motivation.
“I’m excited to be here. I want to do well for everybody who has been watching us and for everybody who has put so much time and effort into the program,” Kelly said.
“I want to make sure I give everything I can.”
