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Junior forward runs Skyhawks Player of the Year streak to four years, as second-straight repeat honoree
NE10 Field Hockey Postseason Honors Announcement
EASTON, Mass. (November 1, 2017) – Stonehill College junior forward Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) has earned Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year honors for the second straight year and highlights three All-NE10 selections for the Skyhawks, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
Smith joins former teammate Erika Kelly '16 as two-time NE10 Player of the Year recipients (2014 & 2015), running Stonehill's run of Player of the Year honorees for four years. Smith and Kelly are the only two Conference Players of the Year in program history and Smith headlines the Skyhawks three All-NE10 selections as one of two voted to the first team this fall. Sophomore Michaela Antonellis (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) joins Smith on the All-NE10 first team, while junior Carly Andersen (Cheshire, Connecticut/Canterbury School) earns second team All-NE10 accolades. Stonehill's All-NE10 trio gives the program 57 All-Conference selections all-time, including 28 on the first team.
In addition to her back-to-back NE10 Player of the Year honors, Smith earns All-NE10 accolades for the third-straight year, with her second-straight first team pick. The reigning Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II East Region Player of the Year, Smith is in the midst of a historic offensive season at both the NE10 and NCAA Division II level. She has already broken the program and NE10 single-season scoring and goals records, while also surpassing Stonehill's single-season assist mark with her Division II-leading 17. Smith, who leads all three divisions of NCAA field hockey scoring and goals, has matched the NCAA Division II record with 40 goals this season, equaling the record set by Jamie Vanartsdalen of Bloomsburg University in 2008, while her 97 points are just five shy of Vanartsdalen's NCAA II single-season scoring mark of 102 points in 2008.
Smith has a goal in 17 of Stonehill's 18 games this season, including a run of 16-staight games heading into the postseason. She has netted multiple goals in 11 games, including nine hat tricks, posting a string of seven straight multi-goal games earlier this season that included four-straight hat tricks. Smith scored a career-high four goals three-times, including a 9-0 win over American International College on September 8, in which she also dished a career-high three assists for a career-best 11 points. She also leads the NE10 with nine gamewinning goals.
Smith, a consensus first team All-America performer last season, ranks second in program history with 181 points and 76 goals in 59 career games, while ranking third all-time with 29 career assists. She has earned NE10 and Longstreth/NFHCA Division II Offensive Player of the Week accolades three times this season and four times each over her career at Stonehill. Smith collected Synapse Sports Division II All-Rookie honors and NE10 All-Rookie Team status her freshman year.
Smith earns NE10 Player of the Year honors for the second-straight year. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Antonellis earns All-NE10 honors for the first time in her career with her selection to the first team. She has enjoyed a breakout year for Stonehill as a midfielder and defender, standing out on the Skyhawks penalty corner offensive and defensive units. Antonellis is fourth on the team in scoring with 12 points, netting four goals and dishing out four assists – tied for second on the team on the latter, in 18 games. She has also contributed a team-high three defensive saves.
Antonellis enjoyed a breakout game in Stonehill's 5-0 win at Bentley University on September 20, netting the first two goals of her collegiate career and adding her first collegiate assist for a five-point game. The Skyhawks rank fourth in the NE10 with six shutouts, while posting a 2.06 team goals against average. Antonellis now has 21 starts in 38 career games played over her two seasons at Stonehill.
Andersen also earned All-NE10 honors for the first time in her career with second team honors. She is second on the team with 13 goals and 29 points, while adding three assists, to rank fourth among NE10 leaders in goals (11th nationally) and tenth in scoring. Andersen has netted two goals in five games this fall, giving her nine career multi-goal games, posting a career-best five points with a career-high matching two goals and an assist in a 7-2 victory at American International on September 26.
Andersen has started 31 of her 53 career games played at Stonehill, totaling 24 goals and four assists for 52 points. She has been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Rolls multiple semesters for her work in the classroom.
Stonehill (13-5, 10-2 NE10), ranked sixth in this week's Penn Monto/NFHCA Division II poll, is seeded No. 2 for its NE10 record matching 19th Conference Tournament appearance and after earning a first round bye, will host No. 6 Assumption College (11-8, 7-5 NE10) for a semifinal round matchup at W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday at 6 p.m. The winner advances to Sunday's championship, to be played at the home of the highest remaining seed, at 1 p.m.
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