TURNING THE CORNER: Dana Smith races upfield this spring in her junior season with the Lafayette College women’s lacrosse team. Smith, a former Princeton High girls’ soccer and lacrosse standout, helped Lafayette go 10-8 in 2017 and make the Patriot League postseason tournament for the first time since 2013. It was the program’s best record since 2002, when it went 13-7. Defender Smith was twice named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week this season. (Photo Provided by Lafayette Sports Information)

Even though her Lafayette College women’s lacrosse team posted a 6-11 record in 2016, Dana Smith believed the squad was on the verge of turning the corner.

“There was kind of a feeling that we didn’t reach our potential,” said 5’1 defender Smith, a former Princeton High girls’ soccer and field hockey standout

“We knew that going into this next year, we had a lot to offer and we didn’t want to see it go in the same way at the end of the season. We wanted to feel like we had done our job at the end.”

This spring, Smith and the Leopards realized that potential, going 10-8 overall and 5-4 Patriot League, making the league postseason tournament for the first time since 2013 and posting its best overall record since 2002 when it went 13-7.

“I think we have always felt that we had so much potential and we really could compete in the league,” said Smith, reflecting on her junior campaign.

“We never quite got there and a lot of other teams took us for granted and looked down on us. This year, we proved that we belong and that we can compete.”

Getting off to a 2-0 start with an 18-3 win over Longwood and 17-14 victory over Binghamton portended things to come for the Leopards.

“My sophomore season was the first time we had ever won our first game,” said Smith.

“Then this season, we had the most successful start either in Lafayette’s history or in a very long time for the program.

Smith, for her part, was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for her performance against Longwood which saw her cause three turnovers and pick up four ground balls.

“It was so surprising and it was really reassuring that all my hard work had paid off,” said Smith, reflecting on the honor.

“I was doing what I hoped to be doing when I was an upperclassman. We are used to getting attacking player awards but we hadn’t had a defensive player of the week in a couple of seasons so that was good for the team.”

The Leopards got off to a very good start in Patriot League, going 4-0 with wins over Army (15-11), Colgate (14-13), Bucknell (14-13), and American (20-9).

“That was big for us, going into the season we were looking at, these are the wins we could get and Colgate was one,” said Smith.

“It would be really nice to beat Colgate but we are not going to count on it. We won by one and scored with 14 seconds left to go ahead. It was just really exciting and that set a really good pace for the rest of the season.”

For Smith, big efforts in the victories over Bucknell and American helped her earn a second Defensive Player of the Week honor as she led the defense by totaling nine ground balls and four caused turnovers in the two triumphs.

The Leopards ended up finishing fifth in the Patriot League to earn a spot in the conference quarterfinals, the program’s first postseason appearance since 2013.

While Lafayette ended up falling 14-7 at Boston University in the playoff contest, it was a memorable experience for Smith and her teammates.

“No one on the team this year had been there before so that was definitely cool for everyone in the program, it was all our first times in the tournament,” said Smith.

“It was just an entirely different atmosphere. You had to have a badge to walk on the field; they announce everyone on the team. Going to Boston, it is a six hour drive. You have to go to class and get on a bus. It is not easy to do but that is exactly what we have been practicing to do since we had started in September. It was really great to get there.”

Benefitting from the team’s overall improvement, Smith showed great progress this spring, picking up 42 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers after producing a total of 32 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers combined in her first two seasons.

“It was definitely how the team played; we played better team defense than ever before,” said Smith.

“The whole game we were doing better so that led to more opportunities for me to finish the play which is what I always try to do. When one of my teammates causes a broken play or the goalie makes a save and there is a rebound, I made sure that their play counted.”

Over the summer, Smith will be concentrating on cardio training to help her be an even better playmaker.

“I mostly work on my speed and endurance fitness,” said Smith, who is playing pickup games with former PHS teammates to help hone her skills.

“As a defender, I spend a lot of time on the field and then have to have one moment where I need to sprint to get out of the zone so I work on my speed. The big difference between my sophomore year and my junior year was definitely my fitness.”

Smith and her classmates are looking to make a difference heading into their senior campaign.

“Now that we have had that success and that feeling of having a good record, we don’t want to let that go,” said Smith, an international affairs and mathematics-economics major and Academic All-Patriot League selection who will be applying to PhD programs in economics.

“We are really committed to keeping that up and my senior class, there are five of us, we are really unified. We have visions for what our senior season is going to be and how we are going to be really competitive and serious about what we are doing.”