Kelly elevates UCI

When the UC Irvine women’s soccer team joins hands on the sideline before taking the field for a game or a practice, the players and coaches renew their commitment to themselves and each other to do the best they possibly can. And, as has been her tendency since arriving at her dream school out of Foothill High, senior co-captain Frankee Kelly does a little extra.

Kelly, a 5-foot-1 outside midfielder whose work ethic is as infectious as the symbiotic smile and giggle that permeate her conversations, takes the opportunity to connect with someone responsible for creating the special feeling she has always held for this game.

“That’s my moment to talk to him,” Kelly said of her late father, Frank Kelly, her namesake and continued source of inspiration, since his sudden death from liver cancer nearly two years ago at the age of 56.

“I always valued the time I spent with him through soccer,” said Frankee Kelly, who recalled with special fondness the drives with her father to club soccer tournaments, as well as the many times he took her to watch UCI games, beginning when she was 9.

“We talked about everything,” she said. “Because soccer had always given me so much with him, I knew it would continue to give me more. In a way, it’s my connection with him still.”

Kelly’s leadership style relies more on actions than words, and the results have been much more rewarding for the Anteaters this season under first-year coach Scott Juniper, the program’s third head coach in three seasons.

Kelly, who produced two goals in her first three seasons at UCI, which compiled a combined 12-39-5 record under Marine Cano (2004-05) and April Heinrichs (2006), has three goals this season. She is tied for second on the team in scoring with two other players, all of whom trail sophomore Kate Berrini, who has five goals.

The Anteaters (6-4-1) open Big West Conference play at home tonight at 7 against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-8-1, 1-1 in conference). UCI failed to score a goal in seven Big West matches last season.

But with some success behind it, UCI enters the conference campaign with renewed optimism.

“In previous years, even though our record hasn’t reflected it, I never felt like we were in a game that we couldn’t win,” Kelly said. “So the fact that we’re stronger this year than previous years is really exciting.”

Though picked to finish last in the nine-team conference in the preseason coaches’ poll, Kelly said the Anteaters have established a goal of reaching the Big West Tournament, which would require finishing in the top four.

“We’ve got a team we’re very proud of,” said Juniper, who is similarly pleased with both the play and leadership of Kelly.

“She has made more of an impact on the attacking side of the field this year, for sure,” Juniper said. “And, as a captain, she’s a role model. She’s just incredibly consistent. Everything she does, she does consistently very, very well.”

Kelly said the team’s commitment to conditioning is another reason for this season’s turnaround, and Juniper said Kelly has helped raise the bar among her teammates when it comes to hard work.

“I think they have all worked hard,” Juniper said of his players. “But Frankee is someone who has grasped the opportunity with both hands and she’s one of the people who sets the standard for us. Whenever we raise the standard, she is always one of the first to climb to that level.”

Kelly said conditioning, quickness and, surprisingly, her ability to handle balls in the air, are all facets of her game that enable her to have success.

“The three goals I’ve scored this season have all come off of headers,” she said with a smile. “[Freshman defender] Caty Cope [whose eight assists this season are one shy of tying the school single-season record] has been giving me the driven [low] ball. And it helps to know exactly where the ball’s going to be.”

Juniper said Kelly’s instincts also help her succeed against bigger opponents.

“She has great timing,” Juniper said. “Sometimes it’s not about being the bigger player, but attacking the right spaces.”

Kelly’s work ethic has also produced success in the classroom. A two-time Big West Scholar-Athlete, Kelly, majoring in both English and religious studies, plans to graduate next spring. She then plans to attend law school.

“My father was born in Ireland and my mother was born in Mexico,” said Kelly, who is also engaged to high school sweetheart Kevin Hernandez (they plan to wed soon after graduation). “So, being from an immigrant family, hard work was just a given.”

Kelly said, more than ever, she also cherishes the name her parents gave her.

“Frankee, which came from Francis, is unique,” Kelly said. “There were times, when I was younger, that I’d get teased. But I came to appreciate my name and I love it even more so now, because it’s just another connection to my dad.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.