Penn State sophomore defenseman Jackson Smith continues to establish himself as one of the Big Ten’s top offensive blue liners, earning the conference’s Third Star of the Week honors following a productive weekend against Canisius.
The Big Ten announced the recognition Tuesday morning, marking the first weekly conference honor of Smith’s collegiate career.
Smith played an instrumental role in Penn State’s weekend sweep of Canisius, recording two goals and two assists for four points while delivering the decisive goal in Saturday’s series finale.
The Calgary, Alberta, native opened the weekend with a career-high three-point performance Friday, contributing a goal and two assists in Penn State’s 5-1 victory.
He followed that performance with perhaps his biggest moment of the young season Saturday.
With Penn State and Canisius deadlocked at two goals apiece after regulation, Smith needed just 15 seconds of overtime to find the back of the net, securing a 3-2 victory and completing the weekend sweep.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Beyond his timely scoring, Smith continues to build momentum offensively.
The sophomore extended his career-long point streak to five games over the weekend, while his assist streak reached a career-best four games during Friday’s victory.
Smith also reached another significant milestone, moving into fifth place on Penn State’s all-time goals list among defensemen with 13 career tallies.
Through six games this season, Smith has collected seven points on two goals and five assists.
Those numbers rank second among Big Ten defensemen and tied for fifth nationally among blue liners, further establishing Smith as an offensive presence on Penn State’s back end.
