By Chris Piccirillo, Sound Senior Sports
Writer:
For the last four
years, Branford senior Chelsea O’Connor has worked tirelessly, both on the
field as four-year starter for the Hornets’ girls’ soccer and lacrosse teams,
and in the classroom as the National Honor Society member has amassed a 3.77
grade-point average.
The fruits of
Chelsea’s labors in both these arenas were recently recognized as she not only
earned her first-ever selection to the All-Southern Connecticut Conference
Oronoque Division team in soccer, but was also one of two Hornets named as the
SportsCenter of Connecticut/SCC Scholar Athlete of the Month for October.
“It’s one of the
greatest honors to be recognized both on the field and in school because those
are the two aspects of my life where I work the hardest,” says Chelsea, who was
joined by fellow senior Robby Dextradeur as the Scholar-Athlete recipient. “I
was really surprised when I found out that made I All-Oronoque because that
usually goes to strong offensive players who put points on the board so it
feels good to be recognized for my hard work on defense. It’s something that
I’m really proud of.”
Indeed, Chelsea has been a
defensive force for Hornets’ soccer throughout her four seasons with the program.
However, this year Chelsea’s
responsibility level was raised as she was moved from midfielder—a position at
which she earned Branford’s Most Valuable Defensive Player Award last season—to
sweeper, which is the final line of defense before the goalkeeper.
And whereas some
athletes might not feel comfortable playing such a pressure-packed position,
for Chelsea,
the challenge was actually something she relished.
“At first I was kind
of skeptical because everyone looks at the defense whenever a goal is scored,
but after a while, I started to love the pressure of being the last line of
defense because it means that everyone is depending on you,” says Chelsea, who also
made All-SCC and was Defensive Player of the Year for the lacrosse team last
spring. “I like those moments in a game when someone is about to score and then
you kick the ball away. That’s such a rewarding feeling for me that it’s almost
like scoring a goal.”
And for Branford,
having Chelsea as a stable defensive presence proved rewarding as she was one
of eight seniors who took the program to the next level by helping the Hornets
have their best season ever last fall as they won 13 games and claimed their first
SCC Oronoque crown.
“Last fall was
definitely one of the highlights of my high school career,” Chelsea says. “A lot of people doubted us,
but we were a close team that had good leadership and worked well together so
we really wanted to prove people wrong. It was everyone’s first experience
winning the Oronoque and we were all cheering and taking pictures after we did
it. It was something that I’ll never forget.”
Another person
who’ll never forget that moment is Hornets’ Coach Jen Kohut, who has presented
Chelsea with Branford’s Blue Collar Award—which is annually given to an athlete
who exemplifies a strong work ethic—in each of her four seasons with the
program.
“Playing defense is
something that came naturally to Chelsea as she read the game well and always
had it in her mind that nobody would get past here back there. She also has a
strong leg that helped her drive the ball a good distance out of our zone to
give us some breathing room,” Kohut says. “But I think that Chelsea’s biggest
legacy at Branford will be her work ethic. She only knows one way to do
something that’s to give 100 percent all the time as she always left everything
on the field every day. On top of that, Chelsea also takes her commitment of
school very seriously and has proven that it’s possible to excel in athletics
with a heavy course load.”
Chelsea has
certainly proven that such an achievement is possible and proof of that lies in
the fact that she’s done a fine job of balancing her athletic and academics
pursuits, thus resulting in her recent distinctions with each.
At times, it’s been
tiring to work so hard both on the field and in the classroom, but Chelsea says
that she’s been fortunate to have a mother and father who’ve stressed to her
the importance of having a strong work ethic.
“My parents have
always instilled in me the idea that the harder I work, the more results I’ll get
out of something,” Chelsea says. “As time has gone by, I’ve learned that
they’re right because I’ve worked hard to get good grades and that’s carried
over to the field.”
Pictured: Chelsea
O’Connor, who recently completed her career with Branford girls’ soccer, was
recently named a SportsCenter of Connecticut/Southern
Connecticut Conference Scholar-Athletes for the month of October.
Photo by
Matthew Lucas