Alex Smith (lacrosse)

Alexander Frederick Smith (born August 8, 1984) is known for his skills on the lacrosse field as a face-off specialist, at the University of Delaware, and professionally for the Chesapeake Bayhawks. He is an owner operator of several eateries, near Ravens Stadium in the Harbor East development Baltimore, including a Häagen-Dazs ice cream franchise, the Harbor East Deli, and Ouzo Bay. Smith also conducts face-off camps through his company, FOGO Lacrosse. He is widely considered one of the great face-off specialists of all time.

High school

Alex 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 graduated from the Boys' Latin School of Maryland, located in Baltimore, where he was a three-year starting midfielder. Boys' Latin finished with an overall record of 52-10 during Smith's time there. His sophomore year, Boys' Latin finished 2nd in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. Smith led Boys' Latin to the MIAA championship as a junior, helping the team to 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.^[1]

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 face-off 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 face-off 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 face-offs 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 face-offs 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 he won the University of Delaware "Outstanding Senior Athlete" Award presented by the University of Delaware Alumni Association.

Smith graduated from the University of Delaware with a major in business marketing and a minor in marketing. He 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. He 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, averaging 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 Smith 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.

Professional

Smith played professionally for the Rochester Rattlers. He was selected with the third overall pick in the 2007 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft.^[2] Smith was elected to the 2007 MLL All-Star game, when face-off 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^[3]

During the 2007 NLL Entry Draft, Smith was selected with the 4th pick in the 3rd round, 32nd overall, by the expansion Boston Blazers.^[4] 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.^[5] 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 face-offs won in Major League Lacrosse history, by going 23 of 34 from the 'X' against the Chicago Machine. The record stands at 249 face-offs won in a single season. This total surpassed Paul Cantabene's record of 238 face-offs, set in 2004. Along with setting the record for face-offs won, he also tallied the second best percentage all time, at 63%, just behind Cantabene's record of 63.3%, also set in 2004.^[6] Following Smith's performance against the Machine he was named the MLL Defensive Player of the Week.^[7] 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 of the lone face-off in overtime, which helped his team to a victory. He then went on to assist his team in winning their first ever MLL title.

In May, 2010 Smith and his Chesapeake Bayhawks wingmen had one of the greatest games ever at the face-off X winning 34 of 39 while defeating the defending MLL Champions the Toronto Nationals, 25-12.

Later in 2010 Alex played on the United States team that captured the Gold Medal in the FILA world games in Manchester England. The United States defeated Canada in a very close game. Additionally, in August 2010 his Major League Lacrosse team, the Chesapeake Bayhawks, captured the MLL Professional Championship. He also became the only face-off man in MLL history to be named to the ALL-MLL Team four consecutive years.

In August 2011 Smith achieved another milestone by winning his 1000th face-off as a professional. He became the only player in lacrosse history to have 1000 wins as a collegian and professional.

In 2012 after recovering from "Tommy John Surgery" on his left arm Alex returned to the Chesapeake Bayhawks for the last three games to help the Bayhawks win their fourth Major League Lacrosse Championship defeating the Denver Outlaws 16-6 at Harvard Stadium, Boston, Massachusetts.

Statistics

NCAA

^[a] 6th in NCAA single season face-off percentage

^[b] 3rd in NCAA career face-off percentage

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MLL

References