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Kelley (Kimball) Frassinelli was a stand-out on the Southern Connecticut field hockey team and was the program's first All-American in 1991. Frassinelli was a four-year starter at midfield for the Owls and has been a mainstay in SCSU Athletics since.
As a student-athlete, Frassinelli (then Kimball) was an All-American midfielder and two-year team captain for the Owls field hockey squad. She was also a multi-sport performer and heptathlete in track and field and was a part of Southern’s record-setting shuttle hurdle relay team at the Penn Relays. During her scholastic career at Concord (N.H.) High School, she was the Boston Globe Player of the Year and appeared in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd.
As a coach, Frassinelli was named the Owls’ head coach in 1993. Frassinelli guided the Owls to the ECAC Championship Tournament in 1998 and the program’s first NCAA Tournament in 2004 after winning a program record 15 games. Frassinelli also guided the Owls to the NCAA tournament in 2008. Frassinelli holds a NFHCA Level 1 Coaching certification and was the chair of the NCAA Field Hockey Championships Committee for seven years.
During her time as head field hockey coach, Frassinelli coached 15 All-Americans, 41 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game participants, 29 All-Northeast 10 Conference picks and a two-time conference Defensive Player of the Year.
However, equally impressive is the fact that 175 players have been selected to the NFHCA National Academic squad and more than 250 student-athletes have been named to the NE10 Commissioners Honor Roll. The field hockey squad has been honored with National Academic Team honors from the NFHCA for 15 straight years.
Frassinelli also holds the distinction of being the first coach in Owls’ women’s lacrosse history when she started the program in 2002, while also coaching the field hockey program. Frassinelli guided the Owls’ lacrosse team through the 2013 season and coached one NCAA statistical leader, two IWLCA Senior All-Star Game participants, two IWLCA Academic All-Americans, five IWLCA Academic Honor Roll selections, five Northeast-10 Women’s Lacrosse All-Academic Team members, one All-Conference pick and 64 Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll members.
In 2017, her 24th year at Southern Connecticut, Frassinelli was named the athletic department’s Senior Woman Administrator. In 2024 she became the second coach in Southern Connecticut history to coach her child when her daughter, Sofia, joined the Owls’ field hockey program. She was also inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.
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