Farrand

CRANBERRY TWP — Heading to Widener University to continue her soccer career should be a smooth adjustment for Kelsey Farrand.

The Quigley Catholic senior and Cranberry Township resident has already adjusted to plenty.

A goalkeeper since eighth grade, Farrand has been at Quigley for three years and earned all-section in soccer the past two seasons.

Before that, she attended school in Connecticut and California, playing soccer in both states. Her team in California primarily spoke Spanish.

“My father has been transferred through work a few times and we’ve moved around,” Farrand said. “My school was in Southern California, just outside Los Angeles, and the soccer team was heavily Mexican.

“Our coach spoke Spanish, but also knew English. I had to learn Spanish a little bit because that’s how he addressed the team most of the time.”

Farrand said the soccer training she went through in California was much more strenuous than locally.

“We had to dive over and under four-foot hurdles, do tons of running ... I was drenched in sweat after every practice,” she said. “I’ve never gone through such physical activity.

“But there’s no way I’d be in the position I’m in now as a goalie if I didn’t go through it then.”

Farrand posted 12 shutouts in the past two seasons — nine as a junior— and her save percentage was 88.7 and 83.7 her junior and senior years, respectively. Her goals-against averages were 1.30 and 1.94.

Quigley qualified for the Class A playoffs both years with won-loss records of 10-9-1 and 6-9-2.

“Kelsey took some private lessons and attended camps for goaltending,” Quigley coach Patty Miller said. “She knows how to position herself and cut down angles. She’s a true student of the game.”

Quigley has only had a girls soccer team for eight years. Farrand becomes the fourth Lady Spartan player to move on to college soccer. The three before her went to Pitt, St. Vincent and Wheeling Jesuit.

Farrand was also honored recently as Quigley’s Midwestern Athletic Conference representative as Female Student Athlete of the Year. She carries a 3.5 grade point average and plans to major in social work.

“We’re a college prep school, so we’ve got strict guidelines for our athletes to participate,” Miller said. “We’ve never had any issues with Kelsey.”

Quigley athletic director Ed Dubis described Farrand as “the perfect example of what a student athlete should be.”

Widener is a Division III school in Chester, near Philadelphia, and is coming off an 11-4-2 season. Coach Brian Sheehan has not had a losing season in his five years at the helm, posting a 62-27-9 record.

Starting goalie Vanessa Hejnas was 9-4-2 with two shutouts and an .821 save percentage last season. She will be a junior in the fall.

“My goal is to get on the team and work hard enough to start right away,” Farrand said. “The coach said I’ll be given a fair shot.”