Anthony Kelly (born May 30, 1980) is a retired professional lacrosse player that played on the

Chesapeake Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...

in the MLL (Major League Lacrosse). He has also played for the

Rochester Knighthawks The Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) are a professional box lacrosse team in the North Division of the National Lacrosse League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Knighthawks are ow ...

and New York Titans in the NLL, the Kentucky Stickhorses in the NALL, and the

Los Angeles Riptide The Los Angeles Riptide were a lacrosse team based in Carson, California. From 2006 to 2008, they played in Major League Lacrosse and ceased operations before the 2009 season. Franchise history In March 2005, Major League Lacrosse, MLL announced ...

Chicago Machine The Chicago Machine were a Major League Lacrosse franchise from 2006 until 2010. The Machine, a men's professional field lacrosse team, played in Toyota Park from 2007 until 2009. Chicago played all its "home" games at various stadiums across t ...

Rochester Rattlers Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom * Rochester, Kent **City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area **History of Rochester, Kent **HM Prison R ...

Ohio Machine The Ohio Machine were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Obetz, Ohio. They first played in the 2012 MLL season and continued through the 2018 season. On August 19, 2017, the Machine won their first cha ...

, and

Denver Outlaws The Denver Outlaws were a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They began playing in the MLL in 2006 as an expansion team. Since joining the league, the Outlaws have played in the ...

of the MLL. He is a faceoff specialist and won a Bronze Medal with U.S. Men's National Indoor Team in 2007. He retired in April 2018.

Biography

Early life

Anthony Kelly was born in

North Olmsted, Ohio North Olmsted is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,442. North Olmsted is a west side suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and is the 8th most populated city within Cuyahoga County. History ...

, on May 30, 1980, to Mike and Linda Kelly. Kelly played for St. Ignatius High School in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, under Ed Aghajanian.

College career

Kelly played at Lacrosse for The

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

for coach Joe Breschi. He had a fantastic college career. Some of his key college accomplishments include: * Four year starter in college, starting every game of his career at Ohio State University * Only player in school history to lead the team in ground balls all 4 years of career * Ranked Nationally in face-off win percentage all 4 years of college career * Helped the Buckeyes win the GWLL Conference Championship in 2003 * Buckeye Power Club Award Winner Kelly graduated in 2003 and went on to become the head coach at Hilliard Davidson High School in Hilliard, Ohio – a suburb of Columbus, until the 2007 season.

Professional career

Kelly's professional career started in 2005 with the

Minnesota Swarm The Minnesota Swarm was a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League who played at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 2004 until 2015. The team's previous owners (Minnesota Sports & Entertainment) who also own the NHL's M ...

of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...

(NLL). He was also drafted in the

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff f ...

(MLL) supplemental draft that same year by the

. Kelly was named L.A.’s “Newcomer of the Year” by US Lacrosse Magazine and lead L.A. to a #2 Ranking in face-off wins for the 2006 season. Anthony remained with the Riptide in 2007 and enjoyed a great year with 169 face offs won, a career high 62 ground balls, and 6 points. In 2008 Kelly won 184 faceoffs for the Riptide and was selected to participate in his first MLL All Star Game and skills competition. He won the fastest shot competition with a shot clocked at 109 mph (175.4 km/h).Anthony Kelly #47
. Denveroutlaws.com. When the LA Riptide dissolved in 2009, Kelly was picked up by the

where he played two seasons. He was transferred to the

for the 2011 season and then was picked up by the new expansion team the

in 2012. After 8 games with the

Kelly was traded to the

for the rest of the 2012 MLL season. As a key face off man for Denver, Kelly won 87–149 face offs in 5 games, with a face off win percentage of 58.4%. He helped the Outlaws advance to the MLL Championship to play for the

Steinfeld Cup The Steinfeld Trophy was a trophy given annually to the winners of the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) championship. The trophy is contested in a 4-team playoff where the top teams (based on regular season record) compete in a single-elimination format ...

, where they were eventually defeated by the

. Kelly returned with the Outlaws in 2013 and helped them to the first perfect regular season in MLL history. The Outlaws went 14–0 as Anthony won 195 face offs, picked up 59 ground balls, and scored 5 goals. Kelly played 12 games with the Outlaws in 2014 and collected a career high 63 ground ball pickups, despite missing the last two games of the regular season due to injury. He won a total of 159-303 faceoffs in the 2014 regular season and went 14–25 in the final playoff game to help the Outlaws win the 2014 MLL Championship. 2015 was another great year for Kelly as he won 169-298 (56.7%) face offs for the Denver. In 2016, his 9th season in the MLL, Kelly was traded to the

to fill the role of face off specialist.

Statistics

MLL

Regular season

Anthony Kelly Stats
Major League Lacrosse Website. www.pointstreak.com.

Playoffs

Tournament

NLL

Awards and honors

*2002 preseason All-America selection *2003 GWLL Championship *2003 Academic All Big Ten award recipient *2003 Ohio State University's Team Sportsmanship Award *2006 Named L.A.'s Newcomer of the Year by US Lacrosse Magazine *2007 Won bronze medal with Team USA at the 2007 World Games in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

*2008 MLL All-Star *2008 Won fastest shot competition at MLL All-Star game with a 109 MPH shot *2009 MLL All-Star *2010 MLL All-Star *2013 MLL All-Star *2014 MLL All-Star *2014 Won MLL Championship with Denver Outlaws *2015 MLL All-Star *2015 Inducted into US Lacrosse North Coast Chapter Hall of Fame *Denver Outlaws career record holder face off win percentage (56.1% 282–503) *MLL career record holder face off attempts (2,746) *MLL career record holder face off wins (1,399)

Personal info

Anthony is the Midwest Sales Manager for STX. He co-founded Resolute Lacrosse in 2009 with his former Ohio State lacrosse teammate and friend, Greg Bice. They are also Co-owners/Operators of The Resolute Athletic Complex, a 74,000 square foot indoor complex with 3 turf fields, a weight room, and training space. He enjoys coaching for Resolute, hunting with his Dad and brother at their family cabin, and playing ice hockey as much as possible in his free time. Anthony has an Education Degree from the Ohio State University where he graduated in 2003. Anthony also coached lacrosse collegiately for Denison University (2004), Harvard University (2008) and The Ohio State University (2009).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Anthony Living people 1980 births Ohio State Buckeyes men's lacrosse players American lacrosse players Major League Lacrosse players Rochester Knighthawks players New York Titans (lacrosse) players Minnesota Swarm players Denver Outlaws players Ohio Machine players Rochester Rattlers players Sportspeople from Cleveland People from North Olmsted, Ohio Sportspeople from Cuyahoga County, Ohio High school lacrosse coaches in the United States Chesapeake Bayhawks players Los Angeles Riptide players Lacrosse midfielders Denison Big Red coaches Harvard Crimson men's lacrosse coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's lacrosse coaches