The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
JEFF JACOBS
Past failures drive Kelly to be the best
There was an undeniable sense of accomplishment Sunday for Connor Kelly. A noon start in Annapolis would lead to a 13-8 victory over Cornell and guarantee Maryland its fifth successive trip to the NCAA lacrosse Final Four.
Stick down. Helmet and uniform off. A 28-mile ride back to College Park. Gown on. Cap on. Posture strong. The economics major wasn’t at Al Gore’s commencement speech during the campus-wide ceremony earlier in the day, but he would be there at 6:30 p.m. in Xfinity Center to receive his degree from the College of Behavioral and Social Science.
The kid from Easton and Avon Old Farms has grown into the No. 1 player on the No. 1 college team in the nation. Selected as one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award — lacrosse’s Heisman — and taken second in the recent MLL draft, Kelly is bound for a strong professional career.
After securing their first national title in 42 years last spring in Foxborough, Kelly also says the Terrapins do not like to call themselves defending champions. They want to be known as attacking champions. A final weekend awaits. While Yale meets Albany Saturday in its first Final Four in 28 years, Maryland will return to Gillette Stadium to attack Duke.
Yes, a final weekend could lift Kelly among the rarified air of repeat national champions.
Yet to better understand Connor Kelly perhaps it is best to understand two disappointments, one buried in his youth, one for all the lacrosse world to see. His numbers are impressive. He set the Maryland record of 46 goals for midfielders in 2017 and stands one goal shy of that mark in 2018. Without steeling himself to disappointment, however, those numbers would be impossible.
Hockey was Kelly’s No. 1 sport growing up. He loved it. There was no freshman team at Fairfield Prep. He tried out for junior varsity/ varsity. He was sure things were going well.
“All my friends made the team, I didn’t,” Kelly said. “Getting cut was hard. It was eye-opening. I learned you can’t take anything for granted. You’ve always got to prove yourself. Going into high school, it’s a whole new chapter in your life.
“I took it as a failure. I had not put my best foot forward. It did help me grow as an athlete and as a competitor. I brought that to Maryland with me.” Kelly would grow into a
terrific lacrosse player after transferring to Avon Old Farms. A wide receiver, defensive back, special teams ace, he also was the Founders League football MVP. An unrelenting work ethic, a continuing growth and nuance to his lacrosse game, there he was a few years later in Philadelphia on May 30, 2016. With the score tied at 13 and Maryland a man-up, Kelly had the national championship on his stick 34 seconds into overtime.
The Terps had good rotation. The North Carolina defender wasn’t going to get to him. He doesn’t second guess the decision to shoot.
“But I took the shot as if I need to blow the goalie away,” Kelly said. “It was unorthodox for me.”
The shot nearly blew a hole through Carolina goalie Brian Balkam, but he stopped it and a penalty on the other end would lead to Chris Cloutier’s national championship goal for Carolina.
“It hit me hard,” Kelly said.
The summer of 2016 was a hard one.
“I came to a crossroad,” Kelly said. “Was I going to sit there and sulk?
Or use it as motivation? So many great players came through this program, so many great people, and to see the look in the seniors’ eyes knowing it was their last game, that was the biggest motivation.
“Knowing it was all on my stick was gut-wrenching. I took it upon myself that summer to prove to myself that I could come back better than ever to help the team. I would learn from it.”
Kelly is modest. His goal celebrations are muted. Bragging is verboten. He won’t call his hat trick, including the winning goal in a 9-8 victory over Denver in the Final Four, redemption. He won’t make the national championship win over Ohio State sound like the completion of a personal crusade.
“It was never about me,” he said softly, “I’d never play for myself. It was about living up to our motto, ‘Be The Best.’ To get back and win that title was amazing for us.”
With Matt Rambo, Maryland’s all-time leading scorer and 2017 Tewaaraton winner graduated, No. 40 knew he needed to be the initiator and facilitator. Only Kelly wouldn’t be No. 40 anymore. Coach John Tillman approached him before the season about wearing No. 1. Grant Catalino, Joe Walters, Mike Chanenchuk and Rambo, it is a number reserved for special players.
“To pull that jersey on is a great honor,” Kelly said.
The honor has driven the second youngest of Mark and Pennie Kelly even more. Connor has four sisters. His brother Bronson, four years older, played DI lacrosse at Johns Hopkins.
“He was the driving force with me wanting to get better,” Kelly said. “He was such a great player in middle school, high school, he basically was the talk of the town. I looked up to him. I wanted to play like him. I wanted to prove I could be that. He led me to be the player I am. I can’t thank him enough.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll thank Bronson or his cousins any given November. Mark and Pennie host Thanksgiving for 60 relatives and the annual turkey bowl football game is, ah, rather spirited.
“It’s 7-on-7 but we have like 10 people on each team,” Kelly said. “It’s the most competitive game. Every play there’s an argument. I’ve got some stubborn cousins. There’s a lot of talk. I love the tradition.”
Yale is in the Final Four. Wesleyan is in the D3 championship against Salisbury. There are an impressive 25 Connecticut players among the teams at Foxborough. Rentschler Field will host NCAA tournament games starting in 2019. This is an important time for the game’s growth in the state.
“The state’s a growing hotbed for lacrosse, not only in Fairfield County.” Kelly said. “I take a lot of pride in being from Connecticut.”
While the Patriots’ leader didn’t show up in Foxborough for OTAs this week, Maryland’s leader will be there wearing No. 1. Former Wesleyan lacrosse captain Bill Belichick refused to talk about Tom Brady Tuesday, but he did talk about how tough teams from Maryland are.
Hold onto your hoodie, Bill, because …
“I’m a huge Jet fan, huge,” said Kelly, who once said if he could be anybody he would be owner of the Jets. “Yeah, I’ve tasted failure.”
And he has overcome it.