Kelly Smith Earns All-America Honors
12/11/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Smith, the nation's leading scorer, earns All-America honors for the first time in her career. She was the runner-up for the Missouri Athletic Club Sports Foundation Collegiate Soccer Player of the Year Award, announced earlier this week.
Smith, one of the greatest athletes in Seton Hall history, is the nation's leading scorer, a spot she has held for almost the entire season. With 27 goals and 62 points in 19 games, she tops the NCAA in points per game (3.26) and goals per game (1.42). Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year Mandy Clemens of Santa Clara ranked second to Smith with an average of 3.18 points per game.
The senior, who is a member of England's National Team, tallied 66 percent of Seton Hall's goals this season as the Pirates' went 11-9 on the year. She has led the nation in scoring for two consecutive years, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the adidas Summer League, which featured the nation's top players.
Smith also set two new NCAA career scoring records, for points per game and goals per game.With a total of 174 points, 76 goals and 22 assists in 51 matches, Smith established new marks for career points per game with 3.41 and for goals per game with 1.49. She breaks the points per game record of 3.34 previously held by Carin Jennings of UC-Santa Barbara (264 points in 79 games from 1983 to 1986). Smith also breaks the record of U.S. National Team member Tiffany Millbrett, who averaged 1.39 goals per game while at Portland (103 goals in 74 games from 1990 to 1994).
She ranks 16th on the NCAA all-time list for goals (76) and 21st for points (174), despite playing the fewest number of games among any other player in the top 20.
The senior was named the 1999 BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, winning the award for the third season.
