Smith Honored by League After Play Versus Creighton
September 20, 1999 | Men's Soccer
Terrier freshman Matt Smith, whose seven saves against the nation's top-ranked Creighton men's soccer team on Sunday (September 19th) played a key role in B.U.'s 0-0 double overtime tie, has been named the America East Rookie of the Week.
"Matt was unbelievable," Terrier coach Neil Roberts said in the aftermath of his team's upset tie over the Bluejays.
Not only was B.U. the underdog, the team also played undermanned for 95 minutes of action. Just over 25 minutes into the game, Ikay Umeh was whistled off for a red card leaving the Terriers a man down for the last 20 minutes of the first half, the 45 minutes of the second half and the 30 minutes of overtime.
While the entire team played outstanding defense, it was the play of Smith that earned the honor from the league and accolades from him coach.
"He is much further along than I thought he would be," Roberts said of the freshman from Lanchester, England, who played on the England Schoolboys under-18 team.
"He has both size (6-3, 195) and quickness," continued Roberts. "In fact, he gets down on shots very well for a player his size. There were a couple of shots Creighton took that Matt had to get down quickly to make the save, and he didn't give up a rebound.
"He keeps the area around him clean so there is no one there to collect any loose balls," Roberts went on.
"Matt is also a tough kid," said Roberts. "He got cut on his lip during the game, and it required three stitches when the game was over. But, he played right through it.
"Potentially, he could be one of the best goalies ever to play here," concluded the coach.
Smith has now shut out his last two opponents.
On September 12th, he had five saves in a 2-0 win over UMass/Amherst and came back with his award-winning effort vs. Creighton.
For the season, he has a 2-1-1 record with an 0.44 goals against average and an .882 save percentage.
The Terriers' next game will be this Wednesday, September 22nd when they travel to Harvard's Ohiri Field to take on the Crimson. Last Saturday, Harvard lost to Creighton, 6-0.
