Norwood, Massachusetts, junior All-American is College's 15th representative featured in national publication
Stonehill's All-Time Sports Illustrated "Faces in the Crowd"
EASTON, Mass. (November 7, 2017) – Stonehill College field hockey junior All-American Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) is featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the November 6 issue of Sports Illustrated which went on sale over the weekend.
Smith is recognized in the magazine's College Basketball Preview issue, for recording her ninth hat trick of the season, including the deciding goal with 1:50 remaining, in a 4-3 win over Pace University. It also mentions her leading NCAA Division II in goals and assists, while moving within range of the Division II single-season records for goals and scoring, after finishing second in the Division in goals (22) and points (49) as a sophomore.
Smith is the 13th Stonehill student-athlete and 15th representative of the athletic department overall to be recognized by Sports Illustrated in its "Faces in the Crowd" section – the second within the last three months. She is the third field hockey student-athlete to appear in "Faces in the Crowd," joining Caitlin Gleason '08 (10/2/2006) and Aly Boulis '08 (10/22/2007). Also featured from the College have been: women's lacrosse All-Americans Katie Lambert (6/16/2003), now the head coach at Stonehill, Lauren Stone (5/10/2005) and Erin Acone (6/12/2006), Rob Pascale (12/29/2003), Brendan O'Brien (2/20/2006) and Tyler Jackson (1/11/2010) from the ice hockey team, women's basketball honorable mention All-American Kelsey Simonds (1/23/2006), track & field All-Americans, Kevin and Keith Gill (4/7/2008), football All-American Stephan Neville (9/26/2011), former football head coach Robert Talley (12/30/2013) and Hall of Fame cross country and track & field head coach Karen Boen (8/7/2017).
Smith, the two-time NE10 Player of the Year and reigning NFHCA East Region Player of the Year, is in the midst of a historic offensive season at both the NE10 and NCAA Division II levels. 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, and leads Division II in assists, has matched the NCAA Division II record with 40 goals this season, equaling the record set by Jamie Vanartsdalen of Bloomsburg University in 2008. 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 19 games this season, netting multiple goals in 11 games, including nine hat tricks, and 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 game winning goals.
Smith, a consensus first team All-America performer last season, ranks second in program history with 181 points and 76 goals in 60 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.
Stonehill (13-6, 10-2 NE10), ranked No. 6 in the most recent Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, received its fifth-straight NCAA Division II Tournament bid, the ninth in program history overall, on Monday. The sixth-seeded Skyhawks will visit third-seeded Shippensburg (Pa.) University, the reigning NCAA Division II National Champions, for a first round matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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