The National Lacrosse League announced today that Rochester Knighthawks forward Ryan Smith has been named to the NLL All-Rookie Team for the 2021-22 season.
“Ryan had a great rookie season. Once he realized the impact he could have, he really excelled. He’s a great teammate who is going to be a hard player to stop. His future in the NLL is very bright,” said Knighthawks general manager Dan Carey.
Smith, who becomes the second Knighthawk to earn the honors following Ryland Rees (2019-20), took his first indoor professional season by storm, quickly emerging as one of the NLL’s most dynamic rookie point-getters in 2021-22.
The third overall pick in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft, Smith finished second among NLL rookies in goals (35) and third in points (59) while also leading all first-year players with a franchise record eight power-play goals. He ranked third among rookies in power-play scoring with 15 points.
Smith, the most decorated player ever to come out of Robert Morris University, recorded multi-goal efforts in 10 of his last 12 games, including six hat tricks over that span.