Rochester Knighthawks General Manager and Vice President of Lacrosse Operations Dan Carey announced today that the team has agreed to terms on a two-year contract with forward Ryan Smith, pending league approval.
Smith finished his second season with the Knighthawks in 2022-23 third on the team in scoring with 75 points (33+42) in 17 games. Smith recorded at least one point in all 17 games he appeared in and posted 10 multi-goal efforts, including a season-high five-goal performance against the NLL champion Buffalo Bandits on Jan. 20.
After setting the franchise’s single-season scoring records by a rookie during the 2021-22 campaign, Smith finished two goals shy of matching his rookie output but ended with career-highs in assists (42) and points (75) while also tying for seventh in the league with a team-best 11 power-play goals. Smith, who was named to the NLL All-Rookie Team, holds the franchise record with 19 career power-play tallies.
In 34 career NLL games, all with Rochester, Smith has totaled 134 points on 68 goals and 66 assists. He recorded his 100th pro point with an assist against Halifax back on Feb. 11.
Selected by Rochester third overall in the 2020 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft, Smith is the most decorated player in history to come out of Robert Morris University. As a fifth-year graduate student in 2021, Smith set career-highs with 48 goals and 71 points, while also establishing single-season records for points (71), points-per-game (5.46) and goals-per-game (3.69). More impressively, Smith recorded hat tricks in 11 of his 13 appearances this past season and registered multiple-assist outings on seven different occasions. He finished the season ranked second nationally in goals-per-game and fourth in points-per-game en route to earning All-America Honorable Mention accolades from USILA, Inside Lacrosse, US Lacrosse Magazine and College Crosse.
Over his illustrious five seasons with the Colonials, Smith, who was on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for much of the season, scored 142 goals and totaled 217 points in 69 career games, all of which are most in program history. He ranks second all-time in career points-per-game (3.14) and games started (59) and third in goals-per-game (2.06) and assists (75). A native of Burlington, Ontario, the 25-year-old Smith is also a three-time All-Northeast Conference selection and remains the only player in RMU history to win NEC Rookie of the Year honors.
During his senior campaign in 2020, Smith posted a team-leading 28 points (17+11) while appearing in all six games prior to the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020 season opener, Smith broke the RMU single-game record for points (10) and tied it for goals (8) in the 22-10 win at Canisius. For his efforts, he was named a 2020 USILA Scholar All-America.
Between 2018 and 2019, Smith totaled 90 points (57+33) while starting in 35 of 36 games over that span and earning back-to-back All-NEC Second Team honors. He finished his junior season with 10 hat tricks and ranked fifth in the NEC in goals-per-game (2.35) and points-per-game (3.53) while ranking third overall in team scoring.
One of his most impressive seasons, however, came in 2017 as a freshman after leading all RMU rookies in scoring and ranking third on the team in goals (20) and fourth in points (28). Smith would later be named the NEC Rookie of the Year, becoming just the first player in program history to win the award, while also earning a selection to the NEC All-Rookie Team that year.
In 2019, Smith also saw action in 18 games for the Oakville Rock of Major Series Lacrosse. He had 49 points with 22 goals and 27 assists, including two game-winning goals and four power-play goals.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound forward was also drafted by the Chaos Lacrosse Club in the fourth round (30th overall) of the 2021 Premier Lacrosse League College Draft. He led the Chaos to back-to-back PLL Championship game appearances, winning the title in 2021.
