Standing between the pipes of the Loro Boriçi Stadium's east end goal in Albania, Kelly O'Brien's Champions League debut would come down to a penalty kick shootout. The former Lafayette College women's soccer goalkeeper made nine saves for her new side, KF Vllaznia Shkodër, as it hosted Turkey's ALG Spor in the opening round of the European club championship.
The rollercoaster match this past fall saw both sides exchange leads and was finally sent to penalties after O'Brien's Vllaznia equalized in stoppage time of the second extra time period. In the most "high stakes penalty kick shootout" of her career, the Leopard kept three of ALG Spor's five attempts out of the net and sent her team through to the next round.
"That was the biggest moment of my career so far," O'Brien said. "The town I was playing in loved their local club and the support we had from everyone going into the match was incredible. Coming out with the win meant so much to the club and the city, and seeing that on everyone's faces after was unreal."
After getting her start in the pros with Vllaznia in Albania and Diósgyőri VTK in Hungary, O'Brien has signed on for her next challenge: playing in Iceland's top flight with UMF Grindavík.
COVID restrictions had not made it easy for O'Brien to find a club to play for this spring. European teams had limited ability to sign international players, but a connection through her agent helped set up the opportunity in the Icelandic town that has a population of about 3,300.
"I am looking forward to a new challenge here in Iceland," O'Brien said. "I'll be playing in a climate I'm not used to. Iceland is the second windiest country, so it will be a learning curve. I will have to adapt my saving technique as well as my distribution to accommodate for the winds. I'm also excited to have the opportunity to explore another new country and get to know a little about the people and the culture of my new home."
O'Brien's break into the pro ranks joined her with former teammate Kelly Chickering '16 as Leopard women's soccer alumnae who have played in the Champions League.
However, she didn't head directly overseas following her time on College Hill. O'Brien, who made 48 appearances over the course of four seasons with the Leopards, played two seasons with the Lancaster Inferno of United Women's Soccer (UWS), a second division semi-professional league in the United States.
Compiling highlights from her time at Lafayette and two seasons in Lancaster, where she earned UWS Eastern Conference Player of the Year in both 2018 and 2019, O'Brien finally got the call from Diósgyőri VTK with a contract offer.
"After the initial offer, I had five days to book a flight, pack and go to Hungary," she said.
"We are really proud of Kelly," Lafayette head coach Mick Statham said. "She is proof that if you work at your game and are good enough, you can do great things. I remember one preseason she returned from playing all summer and I thought to myself 'she is taking herself seriously here.' She had made the commitment."
O'Brien acknowledges that the pro game and the college game are very different, but lessons she can draw back from at Lafayette -- both on and off the field, mental and physical -- have helped her with the transition.
She credits the work she put in alongside Statham, assistant coach Brian Herr and Lafayette Director of Strength and Conditioning Steve Plunkett for helping her reach this point in her career.
"My four years at Lafayette taught me there was a lot more to the game than just showing up to practice and the 90 minutes you put in on game day," O'Brien said. "Without that knowledge, I would have not had a successful pro career."
