SMITHFIELD, RI — As a field hockey player for Belfast Area High School, Kylie Nelson dominated on the field. 

In fact, Nelson was so dominant, her field hockey skills landed her the opportunity to continue her field hockey career as a student-athlete at Bryant University, a NCAA Division I program in Smithfield, Rhode Island. 

And only a matter of weeks into her freshman season with the Bulldogs, the forward and midfielder chalked up her first collegiate goal on Sunday, Sept. 17 in a road game against Columbia University. 

The Searsmont native said she “got a boost of confidence” after scoring the goal and that “[i]t felt amazing to contribute to the team.” 

Nelson, the daughter of Travis and Lynn Nelson, lettered in track and field while at Belfast and helped her team to two state finals in 2014 and 2016. She was a four-time All-Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference honoree and the KVAC Player of the Year in 2016, while also receiving the Outstanding Offense Award and Belfast Field Hockey Most Valuable Player award from her high school as a senior.

Academically, she was a member of the National Honors Society and Peer Leadership National Honors Society. 

Thus far into the season, which still includes eight regular season games to be played, the 5-foot-3 has started in one game. 

In a season preview posted to the university’s website, Bryant field hockey head coach Joppe de Vries said the following about the group of four freshmen midfielders that includes Nelson: "Our freshmen, they can play in the midfield line and the forward line, but for now they are starting to understand that engine mentality. They have the fitness for it, so I'm happy with this group and I'm proud of this group. As I said with the other lines, it's about knowing the game and knowing what we want them to know." 

In a separate season preview about the team’s forwards, which also includes Nelson, de Vries noted he sees “the love of the game in [the freshmen’s] eyes” and noted “they really want to work hard.” 

The business major intends to enter the world of business once she is through college, but in the meantime has her eyes set on becoming “a key player on the field that my teammates can trust” and obtaining “a high GPA that will help our team move higher in the GPA rankings.” 

So what convinced a Waldo County field hockey star to pack up her belongings and move to Rhode Island? 

“I loved the team and school atmosphere,” Nelson stated when asked what convinced her to play for the Bryant Bulldogs. 

“Being part of a collegiate team is an unbelievable experience, you have 20 girls that are all in the same situation as you and are all on your side,” Nelson said. 

But living in Rhode Island is not the only place outside of Maine Nelson wants to spend time in. 

The 2017 Belfast Area graduate one day hopes to visit Australia and mentioned she “would love to go to South Africa and help people there.” The latter ties into her inspiration in life, which is to help less fortunate people.

When in the Midcoast, she loves to find “neat places on the [Maine] coast that people don’t know about” while also spending time with her friends. 

Her favorite sports-related memory from her time playing for Belfast was in her freshman year, when she scored an overtime goal in the playoffs. 

Nelson’s favorite quote is “[t]he only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday,” which fits perfectly with the type of player she has shown Maine — and now Rhode Island — she is. 

Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.