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How She Got Started |
Lauren
spent her early childhood in the City
of Brotherly Love, where she squared off
against older brother Britton on the rink in
the backyard of their Philadelphia home.
"My brother
would beat
the crap out
of me,"
Smith said.
"I wanted to
be like [Britton].
Everything he did, I had to do"
"I was a huge
tomboy growing up."
She played on boys' teams until the seventh
grade.
At 5-7,
Smith uses
her size to
her
advantage in
the corners
and around
the net. She
made the
Holy Angels
varsity in
seventh
grade, and
her learning
process
included
more than
her share of
checking
penalties
early on as
she weaned
herself from
the boys'
game. |
One memorable
moment in her 8th grade year
[from Coach Grossman]:
Lauren was being her normal self
controlling play on a PK.
The opponents couldn’t get the puck
away from her in the corner.
One girl
started out at the red line
and came flying at
Lauren full speed
just as Lauren was
turning up ice.
The girl left her feet to check
Lauren
- - - -
- - - - It was
like a bug hitting
the windshield.
The girl just
buckled when she made contact. It was an
early sign of Lauren's
strength as she didn’t see the
check coming,
and just skated
right through it. |
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Her High
School Stats |
|
Year |
All-State Team |
Goals |
Assists |
Points |
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2002-03 |
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10 |
9 |
19 |
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2003-04 |
|
14 |
18 |
32 |
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2004-05 |
Honorable Mention |
27 |
22 |
49 |
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2005-06 |
Honorable Mention |
22 |
20 |
42 |
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2006-07 |
Second Team |
44 |
41 |
85 |
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2007-08 |
First Team |
60 |
38 |
98 |
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Totals |
177 |
148 |
325 |
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Lauren, 9th-grader,
No.16
2005 Class A State Champions |
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Lauren Smith, Senior
2008 First Team All-State
2008 AP Player of the Year |
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A Final Tribute |
John of
MNPuck
Lauren
can take-over a game just like Krissy
Wendell, Natalie Darwitz, and Andrea Nichols
use to do.
She is "Ms
Instant-Offense". |
The Penalty Shot
[Photos
of Penalty Shot]
2008 Section
2AA semi-final game against Edina.
Lauren is awarded a penalty shot.
Lauren, alone, at mid ice
Waiting behind the red line.
The referee signals.
Lauren starts forward.
Gathers in the puck at center ice.
Swings wide to her left.
[Usually, the skater heads straight for the
goal.]
She crosses the blue line.
Picking up
speed, she circles toward the slot.
Sweeps to the front of the
net.
Moving across the front toward
the right
[the goalie moving
with her toward the right]
a
forehand fake
to backhand stretch and
release
sends the puck
left
upper left
into the back of
the net. |
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Coach Grossman said, "The
forehand fake to backhand stretch and
release, that’s years of work in her back
yard pond, patience, and unbelievable skill." |
Edina
coach Mark Stephan
"Our focus
normally is
on what we
want to do,
and not the
other team,
But
when we
played [Holy
Angels] we
focused on
her
[Lauren].
We told
our players
to be aware
of her
wherever she
was on the
ice.
She's
intimidating
in all
phases of
her game." |
Holy
Angels coach Jaime Grossman
"I call her
an ice-tilter.
Whenever
she is on
the ice, the
game is
going in our
direction."
"We're
really going
to be a
different
team next
year without
her because
of
everything
she brings.
She works hard every single
day, she's
strong in
the
[defensive]
zone, she's
stronger
than anyone
in the
corners and
she's faster
than anybody
in the open
ice." |
"You
[John
of MNPuck]
are
correct on Lauren, I think she does
belong in that class
[with
Krissy
Wendell],
and I have felt she is the most
dominant offensive player in the
state for a while now. She would’ve
been better if she wasn’t injured
her entire sophomore year. She will
be missed."
[Stated
again]
"I
have felt she is the most dominant
offensive player in the state
[in
2007-08]."
"[And
this season's class,
2007-08]
in my opinion might be our best
class ever." |
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Coach Jaime Grossman
Lauren became the
first Ms. Hockey finalist in AHA history,
along with rewriting the record books in her
tenure here. Lauren
became know statewide for her scoring
prowess, but the most impressive part of her
senior year was her play in the defensive
zone. She showed that she was a complete
player, and without a doubt the most
dominant player in the state. It will take
some time getting used to seeing her in OSU
red, but it will be fun to see her continue
her greatness as a buckeye! |
Coach Grossman
[submitted for the All-Metro Team]
She is hands down the best player I have
ever coached. She is a complete player,
ability to play physical in D zone, use
speed through the NZ, and go hard to the
net, or use finesse to get around the D and
beat the goalie. She also has a cannon of a
slap shot. If you watch her play it's easy
to see that she is in a class all by
herself. She needs to be considered in the
same company as the elite players who have
played girls HS hockey. She has the ability
to take over a game, and is almost
impossible to slow down in an era when the
game is much faster, and the low end players
are more skilled. If she has a down side,
it would be that she is so strong that she
rarely goes down in contact, and therefore
doesn't draw the penalties that she should.
She has been the corner stone of a program
that struggled in mediocrity the first 8
years of it's existence (77-108-6). Since
Lauren arrived at AHA the Stars are 130-34-3
with a Class A state championship, and Class
AA tournament appearance, and a section 5AA
runner up. The team averaged 66 goals a
season BLS (before Lauren Smith), and has
averaged 143 goals per season since she has
been a star. Her presence has made us a
perennial contender. |
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