Norwood, Massachusetts, senior All-American collects weekly award for tenth time in her career
NE10 Field Hockey Weekly Release
EASTON, Mass. (November 6, 2018) – Stonehill College senior All-American Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week in field hockey for the sixth time this season, the league announced today.
Smith, the reigning Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II Player of the Year, earns the weekly award for the sixth time this fall and tenth time over her record-breaking Stonehill career. Smith totaled three goals and three assists for nine points in a 1-1 week for the Skyhawks. She recorded seven points for the third time this season with two goals and three assists in Saturday's 8-0 win at Southern Connecticut State University. The three assists give her 37 for her career, breaking the program record of 36 by Kelly Latendresse '07. Smith opened the week by netting her 100th career goal in Wednesday night's setback at No. 3-ranked Merrimack College, becoming just the second NCAA Division II field hockey student-athlete to reach the plateau.
Smith leads Division II in scoring with 58 points, and goals with 25, while ranking third in the NE10 with a team-high eight assists in 16 games played. She leads the NE10 with eight game-winning goals, having scored multiple goals eight times this season. She has at least one point in 13 of Stonehill's 16 games this season, including goals in 12 of the 16, posting a point in 30 of the last 34 games dating back to last fall.
Smith, who joined former Bloomsburg (Pa.) University standout Jamie Vanartsdalen as the only two 100-goal scorers in NCAA Division II history last week, is one of six student-athletes in NCAA Division II history, the fourth all-time from the NE10 and second in program history, to surpass 200 career points. She enters the final week of the regular season with 102 goals and 37 assists for 241 points in 77 career games played. Smith ranks second in NCAA Division II history for career goals and points, behind only Vanartsdalen's 120 goals and 298 points, while ranking sixth in NE10 history and 15th in NCAA Division II history for career assists.
Smith, a two-time Longstreth/NFHCA North Region and NE10 Player of the Year, 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.
Stonehill (11-5, 7-4 NE10), ranked No. 9 in this week's Penn Monto/NFHCA Division II poll and fourth in the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, opens a vital final week of the regular season and it looks to clinch a spot in next week's NE10 Tournament. The Skyhawks are at No. 2-ranked Pace University tonight at 6 p.m., and then return to W.B. Mason Stadium on Saturday, to host Saint Michael's College for Senior Day at 1 p.m.
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