Alex Smith (lacrosse)

Infobox Lacrosse Player


image_size = 150px
position = Midfield/Faceoff
shoots = Right
height_ft = 5
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 185
nll_team =
former_nll_teams =
mll_team = Rochester Rattlers
former_mll_teams =
league= NCAA
team= University of Delaware
birth_date = Birth date and age|1984|8|8|mf=y
birth_place = Timonium, Maryland
nationality = United States
career_start = 2007
nickname = AS11, MOOSE, THE SCIENTIST

Alexander Frederick Smith, was born in the city of Timonium, Maryland, August 8, 1984, to Dr. Frederick G. Smith and Dr. Vanessa K. Smith, and is the oldest of three sons. He most notably known for his skills on the lacrosse field, as a faceoff specialist, at the University of Delaware, and now professionally for the Rochester Rattlers in Major League Lacrosse.

High School

Alex Smith graduated from Boys Latin, located in Baltimore. On the lacrosse field he was a three-year starting midfielder. He finished with an overall record of 52-10. His sophomore year Boys' Latin finished 2nd in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. He took a leadership role his junior year and led Boys' Latin to the MIAA championship, along the way earning the team a #2 national ranking. His personal honors that year included First Team All-State, and the Groundball Award. While also participating in the Bay State Team.His Senior year, in 2003, Boys' Latin repeated the 2nd place finish in the MIAA of '01, but Alex earned First Team All-State honors, The Groundball Award, and Gelston Cup Award, for contributions to lacrosse. In the classroom, Smith was president of the student body and the Speech and Debate Society. [cite web |url=http://www.udel.edu/sportsinfo/mens_lacrosse/roster04-mlax-alexsmith.html|title=Alex Smith University of Delaware Players' Bio|accessdate=2007-08-20 |last=|first=|date= |format= |work=UDel.edu|publisher= |quote= ]

College

Alex Smith is arguably one of the best Face-off specialists of all-time in the NCAA. He holds multiple face-off NCAA records. On February 14, 2004, Smith began his NCAA career against Saint Joseph's University, at Finnesey Field. He scored one goal, with exactly ten minutes left in the fourth quarter, and went 9 of 13 from the face-off. He would be named CAA Co-Rookie of the Year and second team All-CAA. He started 13 of 16 games and finished ranked second in the CAA and sixth in the NCAA in face-off percentage. He scooped up 105 groundballs to rank second in the CAA and fourth in the NCAA. Smith went on to score a goal in the final three games of the season versus Sacred Heart, Denver, and Villanova in the CAA semifinals, finishing the 2004 campaign by being named to the CAA All-Tournament team.

In 2005, Smith earned honorable mention United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association honors as a sophomore as a faceoff specialist and was voted first team All-CAA. He started 14 of 17 games and scored three goals with one assist. He led the NCAA and CAA in faceoff percentage (.709), winning 251 of 354 attempts and set the school record with 251 wins and the .709 percentage ranked No. 3 all-time at Delaware. He won a season-high 23 faceoffs vs. Albany. In the groundball category, he ranked No. 3 in the NCAA and led the CAA with 132 (7.76 per game). He would collect a season-high 16 groundballs vs. Albany, his season groundball total was third best in UD history. He scored goals vs. Saint Joseph’s, Lehigh, and Manhattan, his goal versus Saint Joe’s eight seconds into the game was an NCAA Division I Lacrosse record, for fastest goal. He was voted to the CAA All-Tournament team after winning 22 of 37 faceoffs in two CAA tournament games. Smith helped his team into the NCAA Tournament, for the first time since 1999, were they would lose to #3 Navy, 7-9.

Alex Smith graduated from the University of Delaware with a major in business marketing and a minor in marketing. Smith left the college game with more NCAA records than any other player in college lacrosse history.

Professional

Alex Smith plays professionally for the Rochester Rattlers. Smith was selected with the third overall pick in the 2007 MLL Collegiate Draft. [cite web |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/lacrosse/news/story?id=2920857|title=Inside Lacrosse: There are No Ghosts in this Machine.|accessdate=2007-08-20 |last=O'Neill |first=Adam |date= |format= |work=ESPN.com|publisher= |quote= ] Smith was elected to the 2007 MLL All-Star game, when faceoff specialist Peter Vlahakis was unable to play due to an injury.

Smith had an outstanding rookie campaign. He went on to win Cascade Rookie of the Week twice, and was also awarded the Defensive Player of the Week once. At the conclusion of the regular season, Smith was selected as the MLL Rookie of the Year [cite web |url=http://majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/pressreleases/index.html?article_id=787|title=Alex Smith Honored as 2007 Cascade Mll Rookie Of The Year|accessdate=2007-08-20 |last= |first= |date=August 20, 2007 |format= |work=MajorLeagueLacrosse.com|publisher= |quote= ]

During the 2007 NLL Entry Draft, Smith was selected with the 4th pick in the 3rd round, 32nd overall, by the expansion Boston Blazers. [cite web |url=http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=3073|title=Team-by-team Draft Recap & Breakdown|accessdate=2007-10-08 |last= |first= |date=2007-09-07 |format= |work=NLL.com|publisher= |quote= ] When the Blazers announced that they would not play in the 2008 NLL season, a dispersal draft was held, and Smith was chosen in the third round by the Rochester Knighthawks. [cite web|url=http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=3142|work=NLL.com|title=Dawson selected first overall by Portland|date=November 5, 2007|accessdate=2007-11-05] Smith was released from the team prior to the start of the season.

On August 9, 2008, Alex Smith set the single season mark for most faceoff's won in Major League Lacrosse history, by going 23 of 34 from the 'X' against the Chicago Machine. The record stands at 249 faceoff's won in a single season. This total surpassed Paul Cantabene's record of 238 faceoffs, set in 2004. Along with setting the the record for faceoff's won, he also tallied the second best percentage all time, at 63%, just behind Cantabene's record of 63.3%, also set in 2004. [cite web|url=http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/index.html?article_id=1184|work=majorleaguelacrosse.com|title=X MARKS THE SPOT FOR SMITH, VLAHAKIS |date=August 11, 2008|accessdate=2008-14-08] Following Smith's performance against the Machine he was named the MLL Defensive Player of the Week. [cite web|url=http://www.rochesterrattlers.com/news/general/index.html?article_id=659|work=rochesterrattlers.com|title=SMITH SETS NEW MLL SINGLE-SEASON FACE-OFF WINS RECORD|date=August 11, 2008|accessdate=2008-14-08] Following Smith's record setting performance, he took his team into the 2008 playoffs as the number one ranked team. In the semi-final game against the Philadelphia Barrage SMith won possession off the initial faceoff in overtime. Which helped his team to a victory. He than went on to assist his team in winning their first ever MLL title.

Statistics

NCAA

MLL

References