Noah Smith posed shot with SCIAC logo

Noah Smith Earns Defensive Player of the Week Honors for CMS Men's Water Polo

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior goalie Noah Smith celebrated his senior day on Saturday and added to his honors today by earning the SCIAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season, the league office announced today.

Smith earned it after leading the Stags to a pair of key SCIAC wins last week. On Wednesday, he had a big effort with nine saves and four steals as CMS defeated Cal Lutheran, which came into the game with an 18-3 record on the year and a 9-1 mark in SCIAC. After the Stags took a 4-3 lead after the first quarter, Smith held the Kingsmen to only one goal over the next 25 minutes, before they scored two harmless goals in the final minute of play to turn a 10-4 deficit into a 10-6 CMS win. 

In his Senior Day win over Redlands on Saturday, Smith added 12 more saves and three more steals, as the Stags earned a 14-8 win. One of those saves came on a penalty shot in the third quarter, as he helped CMS pull away for the home win to improve to 9-4 in conference. 

Earlier this season, Smith earned the honor on Sept. 13, after recording 17 saves in a home win over Concordia (Irvine) at the Inland Empire Classic. 

Smith and the Stags will be back in action on Wednesday when they close out the regular season with a road match at Whittier. The Stags will then compete in the SCIAC Tournament on Nov. 19-21, and a win over Whittier could potentially allow CMS to move out of the fourth spot and into third, where it would avoid unbeaten Pomona-Pitzer in the semifinals.