BOSTON, Massachusetts – Peyton Smith of the Marist men's lacrosse team was selected by the Boston Cannons in the sixth round of the 2020 Major League Lacrosse Draft on Monday night.
Smith becomes just the second player in the history of the program to be selected in the collegiate draft, joining Joseph Radin who was selected by the Charlotte Hounds in 2016. Additionally, Smith becomes the highest drafted player in program history at 34th overall, besting Radin's mark of 45th overall.
As it stands right now, Smith is the best face-off specialist in the history of the program. With the conclusion of the shortened 2020 season, he ended his career with the best career face-off percentage of any player in Marist history at .621. Smith also ended his career with 215 ground balls, which ranks him tied-for-third in the history of the program.
During Marist's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship run In 2019, Smith finished the season with a .630 face-off percentage (11th in the entire NCAA) en route to being crowned the MAAC Face-Off Specialist of the Year. After being named MAAC Preseason Co-Player of the Year prior to this season, Smith lived up to the reputation by winning two MAAC Defensive Player of the Week Awards. In addition, he ranked in the top-10 in the NCAA in ground balls and in the top-11 in face-off percentage. Smith was also a member of the MAAC All-Academic Team in 2018 and 2019, as well as a Senior CLASS Award Candidate in 2020.
Smith joins three other former Red Foxes in the MLL, who all play for the New York Lizards. Brian Corrigan '18 and Frank Brier were both picked up by the Lizards in this year's supplemental draft which took place in March. Mike Begley '15 is also a member of the Lizards, having just finished his first campaign with the team in 2019.