Kelly Tyrrell, a 2000 graduate of Colgate and former captain of the women’s soccer team, is in her sixth season on the sidelines as an assistant coach.
Tyrrell started in goal all four years of her illustrious career at Colgate, leading the Raiders to four Patriot League titles, one ECAC Championship, and three straight NCAA Tournament berths.
During her freshman campaign she led the Patriot League in goals against average (0.98) and goals against (20). She did not give up a single goal in any of the six conference games she appeared in. She was also responsible for 10.5 of Colgate’s 11 shutouts, which set a Colgate record. She was named the team’s MVP for the second time her sophomore year and was also the MVP of the Umbro/Lipton Classic. She led all Patriot League goalkeepers for the second straight year in GAA with a 1.03, letting in only one goal in five conference matches. At the end of her junior year, Tyrrell ranked 22nd in the NCAA with 7.8 saves per game. She made a career-high 20 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to Syracuse and was selected as the team’s MVP for the third time. Over her career, Tyrrell appeared in 80 games posting a 54-21-5 record with a 1.25 GAA, 599 saves, an .857 save percentage and 31 shutouts, a school record. She ranks fifth on Colgate’s all-time goals against average list with a 1.24 career mark and is fifth in GAA in a single season with a 0.98 GAA.
The West Hartford, Conn., native was an all-league performer in 1997, 1998, and 1999. In 1997 and 1998, Tyrrell was named NSCAA third-team all-Northeast, soccerbuzz.com third-team all-Northeast in 1998 and and was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year for her efforts in 1998.
Tyrrell’s success was not limited to soccer as she was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll four times and was honored as the Patriot League Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year for soccer in 1999. She graduated with a 3.42 GPA as a double major in political science and Spanish.
Tyrrell’s coaching career began when she was an assistant for the U-9 Travel Team in West Hartford in 1997. The following year, she was the head coach of the U-10 team. As a player, Tyrrell was active in the soccer community, participating as a staff member at a number of youth soccer camps. In 2000, Tyrrell served as the assistant women’s soccer coach at Hamilton College, where she worked with the goaltenders. Under only one year of training with Tyrrell, Hamilton’s goalkeeper set the school record with a 0.69 GAA. While at Hamilton she also helped with the off-season conditioning program and played a crucial role in the program’s recruiting efforts.
With her coaching experience, Tyrrell also helped Colgate’s Luisa Miller (‘06) surpass her own records on both the career and single-season GAA lists.
Tyrrell earned her NSCAA National License with a Distinguished Pass in 2004 and her Advanced National Diploma from the NSCAA in 2005.
