Caroline Kelly is a women’s soccer student-athlete graduating from SLU this spring with a degree in finance. Since she arrived at SLU in 2020, Caroline Kelly has thrived on the Billiken pitch. In her career as a Billiken, Kelly has accomplished various feats. She concluded her Saint Louis career tied for third in goals (31), seventh in points (75), eighth in shots (184) and tied for 10th in game-winning assists (six) on the Billikens’ career lists.
Caroline Kelly announced her decision to transfer to Texas Christian University (TCU) on her Instagram account on December 17th, and the TCU Women’s Soccer Instagram account on Jan. 22.
Caroline Kelly grew up in Kearney, Missouri, outside Kansas City. Kelly’s aggressive attacking style caught the attention of the SLU Women’s Soccer Staff, and by her sophomore year of high school, she became the first athlete of her graduating class to commit to SLU.
Kelly’s freshman season was postponed due to Covid-19, and that same year, she had surgery to address an osteochondral defect in her knee. Kelly described her sophomore season at SLU as “wishy-washy.” Despite the various drawbacks in her first two seasons, Kelly took advantage of the spring and summer off-season to work on improving her skills.
In her junior year, her work paid off, and her efforts were put on display in the fall, regular season. Kelly was awarded A-10’s All-Conference First Team among other honors. Kelly made huge plays throughout her junior season, including 8 shots on goal in a 2022 conference matchup against George Mason.
In her senior season this past fall, Kelly finished strong, earning various honors: United Soccer Coaches All-Region second team, A-10 All-Conference first team and A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player, to name a few. In the national tournament, Kelly led her team to the longest NCAA tournament run that SLU Women’s Soccer has ever accomplished.
Kelly is looking forward to her 5th year of eligibility at TCU, saying, “Experiencing something else is definitely something that I found intriguing,” and “I [have] my 5th year [due to Covid-19], so why not?” After her last year of play, Kelly hopes to enter the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) draft in January 2025.
Reflecting on her time as a Billiken, Kelly said, “Things have been building since I’ve been here.” Kelly’s legacy as a Billiken will live on forever.