By Michael Letendre  

It was only a matter of time before the CT Girls Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame was going to honor the achievements of former Bristol Central girls soccer standout coach Tony Carrier.  

The mentor was an excellent tactician on the sidelines for the Rams, leading the program to its most successful period ever, providing his players a solid education in the sport and memories that would last a lifetime.  

On Sunday, January 22, the CTGSCA Hall of Fame gave Carrier a much overdue nod as an inductee of the 2022 Hall of Fame class from the Aqua Turf in Plantsville.  

Carrier, a standout athlete from St. Anthony’s and Central, played three sports (soccer, basketball and baseball) scholastically – eventually coming back full circle to lead a couple of the Rams’ soccer programs.  

He first took charge of the boys JV program while later coaching for Bristol Parks & Recreation.   

His coaching tenure at Central lasted over three decades and his girls squads were extremely competitive, very successful and of championship caliber.  

Carrier began coaching in 1973, sticking with the boys JV program at Central for 14 years – producing a winning record every season.  

His JV squads were unbeaten in 1977 and 1978 and over his first five campaigns, he dropped just three of 57 matches.  

Overall, the mentor went 134-32-18 with the JV squad before getting involved with Bristol Park and Recreation, coaching both boys and girls teams.  

After seven years of co-ed soccer, Carrier made the leap back to the scholastic ranks at Central and in 1994, he was named varsity coach for the girls program.  

After a few years of instituting his styles and program, Carrier helped to change the fortunes of the squad after a dozen consecutive losing seasons.  

In 1997, Central scooped up its first winning campaign – notching a ledger of 12-4 – and very quickly, after qualifying for the states for the first time in 15 years, the Rams were a recurring playoff participant.  

And a couple seasons later, Carrier and the Rams really took off.  

Central was undefeated in 1999 and 2000 while the squad from 2001 lost just one regular season match.  

That success saw Central put up a three-year record of 46-1-1 as the talents of BriAnne Bruni – one of Carrier’s several All-State players over the years – Lindsey Hermann, Allison Kosswig, Steph O’Neil, and keeper Tara Peterson started an incredible run for the program.  

And those teams could score while playing excellent defense on the flip side.  

Over 1999-00, Central scored 180 goals while totaling 24 shutouts that led to regular season excellence.  

Those records established over 20 years ago still remain Bristol scholastic standards to this day for both boys and girls soccer.  

Carrier earned conference championships in a half-dozen of his glorious seasons (1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) and those squads from 2005-08 tallied 41 victories and had 13 ties while drawing an excellent 34-1-5 ledger in CCC South play.  

And then there was numerous individual accolades his players scooped up on a yearly basis.  

Under Carrier’s watch, he coached 100 CCC South All-Conference players, nine of which earned All-State honors, and also had one all-New England pick. 

He finally hung up his clipboard in 2011 as Scott Redman took over the program that fall. 

Carrier was able to table several awards over his time as the mentor of the girls program at Central.   

He was named the CHSCA coach of the year in girls soccer in 2002 and in 2008, Carrier earned Coach of the Year by the CT Girls Soccer Coaches Association.  

Overall, Carrier posted a record of 318-126-54 during his stints as boys and girls soccer coach at BCHS.   

Carrier was honored by the Bristol Tramps in 2006, receiving the Bill Garrett award and five years later, he was inducted into the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.