Rachael Smith joined the Minot State staff in the summer of 2022 and is in charge of working with the Beavers’ offense and player skill development.
An experienced NCAA Division I and women’s professional hockey player, Smith also brings experience as a top-level coach as she spent the last two seasons as head coach for the U18 Spring Team of the Canadian Girls Elite Academy and head skills and hockey intelligence instructor for the CGEA, and served as an assistant coach for the U22 Stoney Creek Junior Sabres of the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, the top women’s hockey league in Canada.
On the ice herself, the native of Stoney Creek, Ontario most recently played for Toronto’s Team Sonnet of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association during the 2021-22 season, and began her professional hockey career playing in 21 games for the Göteborg HC of the Swedish Women’s Hockey League (2019-20), finishing with a goal and four assists.
Smith played collegiately at Mercyhurst (Pa.) for two seasons, earning the 2015-16 College Hockey America (CHA) Rookie of the Year award her freshman season with the Lakers, then finished her playing career with the St. Lawrence (N.Y.) Saints where she was twice named to the St. Lawrence honor roll and earned 2019 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) All-Academic Team honors. In 67 games with the Lakers, she scored 20 goals and assisted on 27 others and helped Mercyhurst advance to the 2016 NCAA National Tournament, and in 70 games with the Saints she added 21 goals and 26 assists.
Smith earned her Bachelor’s in Psychology with a minor in Exercise Science from St. Lawrence, and also earned her certification in athletic training in 2020. She will be working towards her post-baccalaureate degree in Communications Disorders and her Master’s in Speech Pathology at Minot State.
