Kelly and Ohio Dominican carved out a signature win in their season opener by beating Urbana, a program that went 14-5-1 just a year ago. The Panthers also stormed back in with a second-half surge against Ashland, keeping it close in a 3-2 loss.
Kelly aided the defensive charge in a 3-2 final and assisted the game-winning goal by Jaxson Szabo with less than two minutes left in regulation.
He also contributed a double-assist in ODU’s first goal, one that gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 8:21 mark in the first half.
Kelly and the ODU defense held the Blue Knights to 15 shots while the Panthers fired off 14 as a team. He netted his third assist of the fall against Ashland, another double-assist format for the last goal in regulation.
Kelly started 18 games as a sophomore on the Ohio Dominican defensive unit with a goal and an assist.