Paul Kelly is a former American professional soccer player. Paul attended the University of Maine at Orono from 1992-1996. While at Maine he garnered several honors, including: Regional All-American - '94 & '95; All North Atlantic Conference - '92, '94, '95; All State, '92-'96; NAC Tournament Best 11 - '94; Cleveland State All Tournament Team '94. Prior to the '95 season Paul participated in the 1995 US Olympic Festival held in San Antonio, TX.

Immediately after college Paul played with the Carolina Dynamo

Carolina Dynamo

Carolina Dynamo is an American soccer team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League , the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the South Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.The team plays its home...

 of the USL

USL

USL may refer to:Arts and entertainment* Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project* Urban Strawberry Lunch, a Band from LiverpoolComputing* Universal Systems Language, a language for system engineering and software development...

. After a brief stint with Carolina he returned to Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 to play for renowned LASA

Lasa

Lasa may refer to:* Lasas were gods and goddesses In Etruscan mythology who accompanied Turan, the goddess of love.* Laboratory Animal Science Association, an association to advance scientific understanding and knowledge of the use, care and welfare of laboratory animals and promote refinement,...

 league team, Academica de Fall River. That summer Academica won both the LASA league title and the SuperCup

Supercup

The series was initially sponsored by sport auto magazine during its inaugural season, then replaced by Würth the following two years. Television network Sat.1 sponsor the championship's final year.-Format:...

 title. Paul scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Dynamo Brava in the SuperCup final.

In 1997, Paul spent 2 weeks training with the New England Revolution of MLS

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

 then moved to the USL to play for the NH Phantoms. The team advanced to the 1997 National Final Four in Albuquerque, NM. The Phantoms fell in overtime to the Albuquerque Geckos in the National Semi-Final match. In 1998 Paul signed a contract with the A-League

A-League

The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...

's Worcester Wildfire. Under the guidance of player coach John Kerr Jr., Paul had a successful season at left fullback and was invited to finish out the season with the New England Revolution.

In 1999, Paul returned home to Western MA serving as captain of the newly formed Western Mass Pioneers of the USL. The team captured the 1999 USL National Championship. Paul and Rob Jachym

Rob Jachym

Robert "Rob" Jachym is a retired Polish-American football forward who played professionally in Major League Soccer and USISL. He was the 2003 USL D3 Pro League MVP.-Youth:...

 were named USL 1st Team All Stars and invited to attend the 2000 MLS combine in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...

.

Paul returned to Western Mass for the 2002 season. This year the team lost in the Northeast Conference

Northeast Conference

The Northeast Conference is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football and to Division I Sports for all other sports.Founded in 1981 as the ECAC-Metro...

 title game to the CT Wolves despite winning the 2 match aggregate 4-3.

Honors

2 time Regional All-American - '94 & '95

3 time All NAC Conference - '92, '94, '95

US Olympic Festival San Antonio, TX -1996

LASA All Star - 1996 Club Academica

USL All Star - 1999 Western Mass Pioneers

Captain USL National Champions - 1999

Major League Soccer Combine - 2000

External Links

• http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1999.html
• www.wmpioneers.com/images/WMPioneers_Program10.pdf

Category:Western Mass Pioneers