A change of college plans
CRANBERRY TWP — Kate Kelly expected to keep her verbal commitment to the University of Pittsburgh.
But a trip to the south changed all that.
Kelly, a senior at Seneca Valley and the 2009 Butler Eagle Girls Soccer Player of the Year, recently signed a letter of intent with Old Dominion University.
She will receive a half scholarship her first year at the Norfolk, Va., school.
"A lot of different coaches contacted me, including ODU," said Kelly, of Cranberry Township.
"The campus is not like the city setting like Pitt and it's close to the beach. Everything was nice down there," she added.
"Schools down there were making offers and Pitt countered," said Seneca valley coach Dave Sylvester. "But Kate liked what she saw at the school and they made her a nice offer."
Kelly was a key component in the Raiders' recent run of success. As a junior, Kelly had 16 goals and 11 assists.
She followed up with an 11-goal, 18-assist campaign her senior season, during which the team won its second WPIAL title in three seasons.
The Raiders finished with a 22-1-1 record and Kelly ended her varsity career with the most assists in school history (39) and the second-most goals scored (45).
"She works hard no matter what," said Sylvester. "Her talent does not go to her head."
Sylvester is optimistic Kelly can thrive at the college level.
"She's not a vocal leader, but everyday, what she brought to practice was the intensity," Sylvester said. "She never changed from her freshman to senior year. She never slacked off. She brought that work ethic to the team.
"It was very inspiring to a young team, a player of her caliber, to work as hard as she did," he added.
"I definitely wanted to show the younger kids it's not so much the talent you have but how hard you play," Kelly said. "As seniors, we wanted to get the girls working hard."
And Kelly is hopeful the success she enjoyed with the Raiders is something that can carry over to the Monarchs program, which went 7-8-5 last season.
"The coach (Joe Pereira, who is entering his 16th year this fall) said he was definitely looking for an attacker/forward after watching me play and I could definitely be an impact on the offensive part of the team."
