When Chris Allen coached at Saint Louis, conference opponent Rhode Island always gave his team a hard time. Allen said there was “one tall kid in the center mid” that always made the matchup difficult: Tess O’Connell.
So, when Allen left the Billikens in 2024 to take the head coaching position for the Marquette women’s soccer team and was looking for recruits, he knew exactly who to call. Today, O’Connell’s time at Marquette has turned her into one of the leading scorers in the Big East with five goals in 14 games.
Though in her four years at Rhode Island, goals didn’t come as often as she had only found one.
Nonetheless, Allen said he saw something special in her.
“Tess was outstanding, just absolutely outstanding,” Allen said. “Not necessarily with massive stats, but with all the qualitative assessments. She was everywhere and her footprint was absolutely massive on the game.
“She was disruptive, high energy, an awesome teammate.”
Allen was one of the first coaches to reach out to O’Connell once she entered the transfer portal and she recognized his name right away.
“He was very personable,” O’Connell said. “He was highlighting how he thought that I could be like an impact player for the team. He highlighted how he watched me play for four years. Obviously, when you go to a new school, you have to prove yourself all over again — and I think that kind of pushes you — but the coach knowing your play style going into it is definitely a good feeling.”
Immediately when O’Connell arrived in June, Allen said that she was in a system that would help her succeed.
“She’s able to get closer to the goal with the ball just because stylistically of how we play,” Allen said. “She’s obviously taking advantage of those opportunities.”
The Rams’ attack was a lot deeper on the field, which didn’t give O’Connell as many opportunities. At Marquette, Allen said the attacking center midfielder is critical to their press and the player in that position needs to be strong and dynamic. Enter O’Connell.
When someone plays in the center attacking midfielder position, Allen said they need to not only be alive on offense, but also on defense. He said that O’Connell has done that while also being a model for others who play the role.
“We are funneling the entire attack into the middle of the field,” Allen said. “Most teams keep it out wide, but we want to turn them over in the middle so then we can counterattack on it. You have to have a very strong, dynamic player within that 10.
“I think she’s really done a phenomenal job of not only embracing her role in there, but she runs the most. She runs six to seven miles every game.”
O’Connell said that she does this because of her limited amount of time remaining with the team.
“I want to give it my all every time I’m on that field,” O’Connell said. “With only six games left in my career, I give it everything I got. It would be nice to score a few more goals, help the team and everything, but I just want the team to win—to succeed. I want to make Big East playoffs. The senior class that’s been here for four years, they deserve it.”
It some situations, this ambition is clear. Sophomore forward Emily Fix said that their offensive style changes when O’Connell gets the ball.
“She knows when to shoot the ball,” Fix said. “Offensively, there’s a lot of moments where it might be better to put another person in a better opportunity to score and pass to them. But when she gets the ball on the top of the box, she knows that’s a shot she can make. Her recognition of that is why she’s one of the leading goal scorers right now.”
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Despite sitting at the top of that list, Allen said that she has remained humble and because of that, has been able to connect deeply with teammates.
“She is amazing to be around. Lights up a room when she walks into it,” Allen said. “She has no ego in a world where there could be and so she has just fit in absolutely seamlessly.”
That willingness to work for the team is also present when O’Connell leaves the pitch.
“She’s always someone you can talk to off the field as well as on the field,” Fix said. “She’s always at all of our events. We had a big spirit cup game for men’s soccer and you always can trust that she’ll be there. Off the field, in all of our activities that we do, you know she’s just gonna put herself into it just as much as she would on the field.”
Even though Allen has known O’Connell for five years now, he’s only been able to coach her for one. He said he’s disappointed it has to end so soon because she’s coached him at points.
“Oh man, she’s helping me. I’ve learned a lot from her,” Allen said.” By good, bad or otherwise, about being steady, staying with it and keeping freaking going at that point. She’s not only helping our team — she’s helping our coaching staff and me in a lot of ways.
“We are really going to miss her. She’s going to be really tough to replace.”
This story was written by Ben Hanson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.
