No. 12: Kelly O'Dell '84

The honor of being named to an All-Ivy team in any sport takes hours of dedication and sacrifice, as well as a good dose of natural talent. To be named first-team All-Ivy League in multiple sports is almost unprecedented. Yet it is a feat that Kelly O'Dell '84 accomplished for the first time in her freshman year at Princeton, a fitting start to an illustrious career as a member of both the women's hockey and soccer teams.

O'Dell began making her mark on Princeton sports before the end of her first semester. As a freshman goalkeeper in 1980, she helped put the soccer team in the Ivy League record books with the second fewest losses ever in a single season, after suffering only two defeats. O'Dell was rewarded for her defensive efforts with an All-American nod by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and a first-team All-Ivy bid.

In covering the 1980 season, one Daily Princetonian article said, "One of the reasons the Tigers won this year was the superb play of O'Dell, who Malekoff said made one spectacular save that was 'the best save I've seen this season' ".

While it would be difficult for anyone to top a freshman season of such high caliber, O'Dell continued to excel on the field for the Tigers over the course of the next three years. In her sophomore season, she set the Ivy League record for most shutouts in a single season with 10, while garnering another spot on the first-team All-Ivy list.

As a junior in 1982, she led the Tigers to one of their most successful seasons in history. Princeton not only captured the Ivy League title for the first time, but it also advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. As a result of O'Dell's stellar play in goal, she was named the season's Most Valuable Player by her teammates and was once again named to the All-Ivy team.

As a captain in 1983, O'Dell finished her senior season by leading the Tigers to a second consecutive bid to the NCAA tournament and capped off her legacy as one of Princeton's best goaltenders ever.

While stopping goals was her objective on the soccer field, O'Dell made her mark on the rink by scoring them. She was a powerful forward who was named to the hockey first-team All-Ivy team four years in a row. This remarkable accomplishment lands her among elite company as one of only 10 women to ever achieve this feat in hockey.

In addition to the individual Ivy League records she set for most goals scored in a single season, 23, and most points scored in a single season, 55, O'Dell helped catapult the team to unprecedented overall success. Her powerful shooting and captainship on the ice allowed Princeton to set the Ivy League single-season scoring record in 1983 in addition to the record for most consecutive victories, 16, on the way to earning back-to-back Ivy League titles in 1982 and 1983.

O'Dell's scoring drives were so common that the writers covering Princeton women's hockey became accustomed to her unyielding talent. In 1983 one writer exemplified this, writing, "Once again, it was O'Dell who got the Tigers going in the first period."

While O'Dell's soccer and hockey careers were marked with many individual accolades and Ivy records, her impact extended beyond her years at Princeton. O'Dell ushered in an era which began to establish the Tigers as a formidable presence on the national soccer and hockey scenes.