ORONO, Maine -- From the outset, Paul Kelly had a good feeling about the University of Maine.
 
The defender from Massachusetts had developed a strong relationship with men's soccer head coach Jim Dyer, he enjoyed his campus visit and a good friend would be his freshman roommate.
 
Even so, Kelly wasn't sure how his skills would stack up at the Division I level.
 
"I thought, man, I'm out of my league with these guys," he said. "Fortunately, I fit in and it worked out."
 
Kelly's accomplishments at UMaine have landed him in the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Kelly arrived in Orono with Mike Flynn, a football teammate at Cathedral High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Flynn went on to win a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens and is in the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.
 
"It was a pretty easy decision after seeing the campus and meeting all of the guys," Kelly said of choosing UMaine. "Mike and I had known each other since probably seventh grade."
 
Kelly served as Cathedral's football place-kicker, and was an all-state javelin thrower, but it was on the soccer pitch that he made his mark. The defender started as a freshman at UMaine and became the program's only three-time, All-North Atlantic Conference first-team choice.
 
"He was a gifted player," said Scott Atherley, who helped recruit Kelly and took over as UMaine's head coach in 1993. "He was able to relieve pressure, he could hammer the ball with both feet, and he was good in the air because he was tall, scrappy, wiry and deceptively strong."

Kelly and his classmates helped the Black Bears post a 34-26-6 record from 1992-95. He manned the center fullback position and helped them limit opponents to 1.4 goals per game and post 13 shutouts in 50 contests over his last three seasons.
 
"Paul hated to lose. And his competitive instincts were tremendous and they rubbed off on everybody else," Atherley said.
 
"He had an edge to him," he said. "He was a really, really tough competitor."
 
Kelly was named to the NAC All-Tournament Team during UMaine's semifinal appearance as a junior and he claimed regional All-America honors in 1994 and 1995.
 
"We had a lot of fun, although we probably left a handful of wins out there that we should have had," said Kelly, who stressed the importance of the bond and the collective commitment among the players.
 
"We grew to be a pretty tight-knit group," he said. "I couldn't have asked for a better four-year experience."
 
Kelly's passion for soccer was instilled in him, his older brother Ryan, his younger brother Patrick — who played at UMaine from 1999-2002 — and his sister Laura by their father, Larry Kelly.
 
"He's been my coach since I was born," Paul Kelly said. "We had a goal in our backyard and all we ever did was play soccer."
 
Larry Kelly was the motivator and teacher, while his mother, Kathy, provided more quiet support and reinforcement in their children's athletic pursuits.
 
"The two of them were side by side at every game any of us has ever played," Paul said. "I don't know how they did it. My parents are by far the biggest influence on my career or my life."
 
Ryan Kelly was an assistant coach at UMaine during the 1994 season, when his brother Paul was a junior on the squad.
 
Paul Kelly's transition to the college game was aided by veteran Gary Crompton, who took Kelly under his wing. The men later played together professionally and have remained friends.
 
Kelly dreamed about playing professionally and made it happen. He participated in the 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival, then played four seasons in the United Soccer League. Playing alongside Crompton, Kelly captained the Western Mass Pioneers to the USL Pro League national title.
 
Kelly earned USL all-star recognition in 1999 prior to receiving an invite to the 2000 Major League Soccer combine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
 
"It was kind of the very beginning of professional soccer in the United States," Kelly said. "It was just about continuing to play at a high level and loving the game."
 
Kelly has spent the last 25 years in the computer software business, most recently at Boston-based Profit Isle, before relocating to North Carolina.
 
His personal focus has been his two daughters. Caitlin is a junior at North Carolina State and Brigid is a freshman at Babson. The trio have been active skiing, mountain biking and running and have competed in Ironman Triathlons.
 
Paul Kelly has few regrets, but laments the elimination of the UMaine men's soccer program for budgetary reasons in 2009.
 
"It's really sad because we did have such a great program," he said. "It was really disappointing."

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The 2024 UMaine Sports Hall of Fame class will be officially inducted at a banquet held at Jeff's Catering on Friday, Oct. 4. For more details on this year's induction class, please click here.