Will Smith

Classroom

Will Smith has seen immediate academic success at a prestigious institution in Lehigh’s College of Business and Economics. Lehigh is currently tied for 53rd nationally in the U.S. News and World Report list of top national universities. As a finance major, Smith has experience in his area of interest, recently interning at a boutique asset management firm called DT Investment Partners, where he served as a junior investment analyst and operated asset allocation optimization software to define portfolio efficiency for prospective clients.

Character

Though he already was considered a leader by his teammates as a four-year starting goalkeeper, Smith was named a captain for the 2019 Mountain Hawks, and he has shown his leadership on both the field and throughout the university. While at Lehigh, Smith has been actively involved with Lehigh’s Flight 45 program, Lehigh Athletics’ Leadership Academy in the Emerging Leaders program, which educates sophomore and junior student-athletes regarding how to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead their team vocally while actively supporting the efforts of current team captains.

As a captain and successful member of the team, Smith’s strong character has been displayed through his time dedicated to weight-training, skill work, practice, team meetings, conditioning and studying film. His character is a testament to his dedication to his craft.

Community

Like so many of his teammates and other student-athletes at the university, Smith has been a part of many efforts within his Lehigh community. He has joined his teammates in going to a local elementary school for the Reading Rocks program, in which a different Lehigh Athletics team every week spent approximately one hour with the students, assisting with their reading before playing games with the children. In addition, Lehigh men’s soccer, along with every Lehigh Athletics team annually takes part in Adopt-A-Family, through which the Mountain Hawks provide a holiday for an underprivileged family. A member of the Student Athlete Council (SAC) for three years, Smith was in charge of collecting the money, buying the gifts and presenting them to the selected family each year. Along with Lehigh fraternities, sororities and other departments, the event itself has raised up to $30,000.

Competition

Smith has seen great success as the Mountain Hawks’ starting goalkeeper over the previous four seasons. As of September 4, 2019, Smith had played in 49 games with 48 starts, compiling over 4,200 minutes between the pipes. As a freshman in 2016, Smith made 10 starts with a 1.23 goals-against average and 42 saves, including two shutouts. As a sophomore in 2017, Smith started in all 18 of Lehigh’s contests with a 10-6-1 record, four shutouts and a GAA of 1.26. He subsequently led the Patriot League in Goalkeeper of the Week awards with three. The 2018 campaign was Smith’s best to-date, as he started a career-high 19 games with a career low 0.81 GAA. He led the Patriot League with nine shutouts and a save percentage of .814. During his stellar season, he once again racked up three Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week honors and was named a second-team All-Patriot League selection. As of nomination time in 2019 after playing just one contest, Smith already had registered a shutout against Manhattan, the 16th of his career.

During the summer before his junior year, Smith played for Reading United AC, a USL League Two team affiliated with the Philadelphia Union of the MLS. He trained with Bethlehem Steel FC in USL Championship, as well as the Philadelphia Union for two weeks.