College
Alex Smith is arguably one of the best Face-off specialists of all-time in the NCAA. He holds multiple NCAA face-off 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 All-American honorable mention from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association as a sophomore 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.
In 2007, as a team captain, Smith led the Blue Hens to the NCAA final four in Baltimore Maryland before 50,000 plus fans. Along the way the underdog University of Delaware team defeated the 2006 National Champion, the University of Virginia, before losing to the eventual 2007 National Champion, Johns Hopkins, in the semi-finals. As a senior Alex won the University of Delaware "Outstanding Senior Athlete" Award presented by the University of Delaware Alumni Association.
Alex Smith graduated from the University of Delaware with a major in business marketing and a minor in marketing. Smith left the college game a three time All-American and with more NCAA records than any other player in college lacrosse history. In fact, Smith's name appears in the 2008 NCAA Lacrosse Record Book more than any other player in lacrosse history. Alex was the only face-off man in NCAA history to win three consecutive awards from the NCAA for the best face-off win percentage for a season. Alex averaged over 70% for those three consecutive years. Additionally, he joined the Blue Hen coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2009 lacrosse season.
In 2010 Alex was named to the Colonial Athletic Association Silver Anniversary Team. He was the only athlete from the University of Delaware in any sport to hold this distinction. The Silver anniversary team honored the top athletes over the last twenty five years. The team included fourteen men and eleven women who were picked from 21 different sports. The team was chosen from over 50,000 student-athletes. This group was representative of USA Olympic team members, national players of the year,and many professional athletes.
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Famous quotes containing the word college:
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