Email coach
Spencer Smith
Extension 6367
Spencer Smith enters his 14th season at the helm of the women’s soccer program.
He came to the Eagles after spending the previous 16 seasons leading the men’s soccer team at Big South member Radford, where he earned Big South Coach of the Year honors twice and still remains the school’s all-time leaders in victories.
Smith led the Eagles to their second and third Big South Conference regular season titles and a conference tournament runner-up finish in 2012.
In his first season he guided the Eagles to a Big South Co-Regular Season Championship, earning the top seed in the conference tournament. Winthrop also tied a school record that season for having the most players earn a conference postseason honor as six Winthrop athletes were recognized. Smith was also voted the Big South Conference Coach of the Year.
The next season Smith led an Eagle squad that notched the second-most wins in school history with 12 and set a new program mark for eight conference wins in a season. That season the team captured the program’s second straight Big South Co-Regular Season Championship. It is also the third overall in school history.
From 2011-14, the Eagles led the Big South Conference in scoring and ranked in the Top 30 nationally in each season. In 2011 the Eagles ranked 24th nationally, 26th in 2012, 27th in 2013 and 26th in 2014. Over the course of those four seasons the offense was paced by two-time Big South Conference Player of the Year Krystyna Freda. She led the league in points per game all four years and ranked in the Top 25 nationally as well. In 2011 she ranked 22nd nationally in points per game, 21st in 2012, 7th in 2013 and 6th in 2014. Freda was also one of the nation’s leading goal scorers ranking 10th in 2011, 19th in 2012, 9th in 2013 and 3rd in 2014.
The Eagles’ offense broke nearly every school record throughout the 2011 campaign as they were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Big South Conference Tournament. They set new season records for points (121), points per game (6.05), goals (45), goals per game (2.25), assists per game (1.55), shots (301), shots per game (15.05), and tied for first in assists (2011).
In 2010 the Lady Eagles set a school record by shutting out an opponent in five straight matches, and also tied a school mark set in 2006 for most consecutive victories with five. Durbin’s eight goals that year were the most by a Winthrop player since Chelsea White netted the same total during the 2007 season. She finished tied for fourth in the conference last season in goals.
The 12 wins in 2011 and 2012 are the second-most wins in a single-season in program history. The team also captured 11 wins in 2013, which is the third most victories in a season. Smith ranks 5th all-time in Big South Conference history with 93 wins (93-106-23) and 5th in conference only victories (55). Over his career the Eagles have had 31 All-Conference selections, 14 Big South All-Tournament selections, three Big South Conference Attacking Player’s of the Year and one Big South Conference Freshman of the Year.
During his 16 season with the Highlanders, the program made two NCAA College Cup appearances as well as one Big South Conference Regular Season Championship and two runner-up finishes. He compiled a 136-139-30 (.495) record at Radford to rank him fourth on the Big South Conference all-time coaching list and third among active coaches. His 56 Big South victories are fourth-most on the all-time coaching list.
Under Smith’s guidance, Ian Spooner was honored as the Big South Player of the Year in 1994 and 1995, while Troy Washington took home the award in 1998. Both Spooner and Washington were named to the National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA) All-Region teams during those seasons. Sacha Drouin (1996), T.J. Rolfing (2002) and Omar Zinoveev (2004-05) were also named to NSCAA All-Region teams under Smith. Since 1994, 30 of his players have been recognized on the Big South postseason all-conference teams.
Not only have Smith’s players been successful on the soccer field, they have also excelled in the classroom. Patrick Colas was the recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 2005 and was a two-time College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American. Colas also earned Big South Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Two more of Smith’s players, Mike Ginsburg in 1997-98 and Scott Hance in 2000, earned Men’s Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year accolades. Justin Zimmer was awarded Academic All-District in 2008. Rolfing was a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American in 2002.
During the past several seasons, his team’s academic success has been recognized throughout the national. In 2008, the Highlanders were honored by the NSCAA for the second-straight seasons as one of its Team Academic Award winners, an honor given to a program with a team grade-point average of 3.0 or better. Radford was one of just two teams in the Big South, one of 35 NCAA Division I schools and one of 106 four-year colleges across the country to receive the distinction that season. The Highlanders were also awarded with the distinction in 2007.
The Lady Eagles program was also recognized academically in Smith’s first season receiving its first-ever NSCAA Team Academic Award by posting a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25.
Smith has 23 years of college coaching under his belt, which also include two years at Lincoln Memorial University and three years at North Carolina Wesleyan. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate, TN. After serving as the assistant coaching for one season, he took over the program in 1989 and led the Railsplitters to 14 wins which included an 8-8-3 mark during the 1990 season. Smith was at the helm of the NC Wesleyan program for three seasons, posting 20 wins for the Battlin’ Bishops.
A 1987 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Smith was a four-year starter for the Volunteers, and a captain as a junior and senior. Smith also earned Most Valuable Player honors in 1986. Following college, his professional career took him to Sheffield, England and included training with Sheffield United F.C., as well as time with Stannington Village F.C.
A native of Baltimore, MD, Smith was head coach of the Virginia Olympic Development Program U-18 team from 1994-98. He was also the chairman of the NSCAA South Atlantic Regional Rankings Committee and a member of the NCAA Regional Selection Committee.
Smith and his wife, Julie, are the parents of three children – Alyssa, Landon and Merric.
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