Despite this impressive resume, there was no guarantee of such a smooth transition for Smith. But the rookie has thoroughly enjoyed the new challenge of playing college soccer in the US.

“The standards are actually really [high] here,” he said. “The style is a little bit different, but soccer’s a universal sport, so the transition wasn’t too hard for me.”

Being two years older than most members of the freshman class might have made others in his shoes feel uncomfortable, but Smith sees his age as a benefit.

“I feel it probably is a little advantage,” he said. “I feel I’m probably a little more mature...I spent two years out of education, and I realized how important education is to me this year, so I probably take things a little more seriously than others.”

“But I still like to have fun,” he added with a laugh.

As Harvard looks towards this year’s tournament and beyond, it’s the freshmen who will be forced to play an even bigger role.

“I think it’s going to be obviously difficult after this senior class graduates, but I think so far this year [the freshman class has] proved that guys can step up,” Rogers said. “And there are guys that haven’t even gotten to play as much this year that, given the opportunity next year, are going to step up and have great seasons.”

One of those to step up next season could very well be Smith, but for now, the defenseman is enjoying the Ivy title and looking forward to the NCAA tournament.

“I’m pretty confident,” he said. “We’re ranked top 10 in the country, this win gives us extra confidence...I’m sure we can go quite far in the tournament.”

And Smith feeling confident is certainly a good thing. He’s already been right once before.