Smith & Bachelder Earn NFHCA All-America Honors


Smith is just the second three-time first team All-American in program history (PHOTO BY Matt Campbell)

Smith collects first team All-America honors for third-straight year
Bachelder a first-time NFHCA All-America selection with her second team honors

Longstreth/NFHCA Division II All-America list

EASTON, Mass. (January 7, 2019) – Two members of the Stonehill College field hockey program have earned a spot on the 2018 Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II All-America first team, the organization announced today.

Senior forward Kacie Smith and sophomore back Elaine Bachelder both add Longstreth/NFHCA All-America honors after also collecting All-America accolades from synapsesports.com last month. Smith earns first team All-America honors from the NFHCA for the third-straight year, while Bachelder collects her first NFHCA All-America honor with her second team selection. The duo give Stonehill 34 Longstreth/NFHCA All-Americans all-time, with ten during head coach Susan Ciufo's four years at the College.

Smith, one of eight to earn multiple All-America honors in program history, is just the third three-time All-American in program history and joins former teammate Erika Kelly, '16 as one of two three-time first team selections from Stonehill. The 2017 Longstreth/NFHCA Division II Player of the Year is one of just two three-time Northeast-10 Conference Players of the Year in Conference history after her selection this fall. The three-time All-NE10 first team selection and two-time NFHCA North Region Player of the Year led Division II for the second-straight year with 74 points and 32 goals, while leading the team with ten assists, which ranks third in the NE10, and eight game winning goals. Smith recorded at least a point in 18 of the Skyhawks 20 games this fall, netting multiple goals ten times, with five hat tricks. She has recorded seven-plus points five times, including a career-high nine with four goals and an assist in a 9-0 win over Saint Thomas Aquinas College on September 5.


Smith

Bachelder

Smith is one of just two players in NCAA Division II history to surpass 100 career goals and 200 points. She is ranked second in NCAA Division II history with her NE10 record 257 points and 109 goals, to go with her program-record 39 assists, which is tied for fourth in NE10 history. Smith had a record-breaking junior season in which she led all three levels of NCAA field hockey in scoring and goals, while leading the NE10 with her school-record 17 assists. She set an NCAA Division II record with 41 goals, while her 99 points set a new NE10 single-season standard. Smith earned a spot on the NE10 Academic All-Conference team as a junior and appeared in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the November 6, 2017 issue of Sports Illustrated. Smith is a Zag/NFHCA National Academic Squad member and been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll multiple semesters.

Bachelder adds NFHCA second team All-America honors to her second team honors from Synapse Sports last month, after earning All-NE10 first team honors for the first time this fall. She led a Stonehill defensive unit that ranks fifth in the NE10 with a 1.47 team goals against average, while yielding 11.2 shots and 6.3 penalty corners per game. Bachelder, who earned NE10 and NFHCA Division II Defensive Player of the Week honors on September 5, started all 20 games for the Skyhawks and has recorded three defensive saves, and dished one assist.

Bachelder, a Synapse Sports Division II and NE10 All-Rookie Team selection as a freshman, has started 39 of her 40 games played in her two-year career, totaling four defensive saves and two assists.

Stonehill wrapped up its 2018 season with a 13-7 record overall, including 8-5 in the NE10, making its NE10 record matching 20th appearance in the Conference Tournament and reaching the semifinal round. The Skyhawks are ranked eighth in the final Penn Monto/NFHCA Division II poll.

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