A quick look at the numbers shows the kind of season Cameron Smith is having. The freshman forward has tallied 56-22—78 in just 19 games played, including 11 power play goals, eight power play assists, five game-winning goals, and one short-handed goal. He leads the entire American Collegiate Hockey Association in goals scored, and he’s tied for first in points. He’s also first on the team in goals and points, second in assists, and fourth in time spent in the box with 44 PIM.

On the ice, Smith can usually be spotted skating circles around the opposition. But his speed and offensive prowess can make him a target for other teams, either with roughing penalties or by marking him with a player for the whole game. A quick release along with good timing and an ability to see an opening at the goal help him score, even from seemingly impossible angles.

Smith, 20, got into roller hockey when he was four years old and starting ice skating three years later. He played mites on the Northern Virginia Ice Dogs with future Mason alternate captain David Guinee and was coached by Guinee’s dad. He then played for the Virginia Statesmen in Reston, the Ashburn Xtreme, and the Washington Little Caps in the Atlantic Youth Hockey League, where he spent four seasons. In 2012, he joined the Potomac Patriots in the Eastern Junior Hockey League Tier III Junior A, playing alongside future Mason linemate, Alex Grose.

The team moved into the more competitive USPHL Elite League the following season, but Smith left halfway through the year to play Juniors with the Youngstown Phantoms Tier I team in the United States Hockey League. He was then drafted in 2014 in the North American Hockey League, one of the top junior leagues in the US, where the Keystone Ice Miners selected him in the fourth round. He played for them in Pennsylvania until the team folded, after which he went to the Johnstown Tomahawks Tier II.

Smith tore his ACL in his left knee in 2015 during a game in Alaska – an injury that can be career-ending, but he refused to give up because “the only thing I wanted in the world was to play hockey.” Three days after surgery, he was back in the gym, trying to regain all the muscle he had lost in his leg due to the injury. Six months later, he was on the ice again, playing men’s league to ease back into the rigors of the game.

He returned to Johnstown for the 2016-2017 season, but was traded to the Northeast Generals Tier II in Massachusetts (where they put him up in a frat house in Rhode Island – one of his more memorable experiences). Smith requested a trade and was sent to the Bismarck Bobcats Tier II in North Dakota, but when they later traded him to Tier III, he refused the trade and came home. He was tired of what he saw as hockey politics and wanted to focus on college.

Born and raised in Arlington, VA, Smith attended Yorktown High School until he moved to Ohio halfway through his junior year for hockey. He graduated in 2015 from an online program through the University of Nebraska with a 4.0 GPA. At Mason, he’s considering computer science or cybersecurity as a major. He hopes someday to own a business, like his grandfather.