Kim Smith — Women's lacrosse & field hockey

Sophomore Kim Smith of the women's lacrosse team and the field hockey team recently sat down with senior writer Sophia Hollander.

'Prince': Is it embarrassing to beat a team 18-0?

Kim Smith: It's not embarrassing. I think it's hard to be excited after you score so many goals, but the Ivy games are more important. We didn't play the game thinking of the score. We didn't try to throw up the score that much. We definitely scored a lot of goals in the first half. It's more insulting to a team if you take it easy and don't play your hardest. It's hard during the season to be so happy after a win because there's always the next game. I think that's why our coaches are so great, because they always find something for us to work on.

P: Is that annoying?

KS: I think it's really good for our team. We have coaches who are always pushing us, and they never let us settle. It's like, "You did this well, but you can work on this. This is a positive thing, but if you want to get better work on this other thing." I think that's something all good teams have. You can never play perfectly. I think that's why we are such a good team.

P: Do you have any superstitions?

KS: Yeah, I'm superstitious. I wear the same hair thing for every game. The same spandex. The same socks. I mean, they're washed. I've been doing this stuff for so long, I can't even. . . Those are my main superstitions. I've just always been a superstitious person. I like my routine. It's not necessarily a good thing.

P: What if the games are close together?

KS: I wash them.

P: OK. What was it like working under 'The Difference Maker' [strength and conditioning coach Matt Fleming]?

KS: I think he's great. He's really helped our team a lot. This is my first time seriously lifting. I do think everyone has benefited. We've done some pretty bad things. I'm not a huge lifter. There have been some things that I just. . . We crawled around the gym. We duck-walked around the weight room. Every morning during December and January we would just get up and run.

P: Did you feel silly?

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KS: Yeah. I think we were all in so much pain that we weren't thinking what we looked like. I probably looked very stupid. When we were told to max out, it was a shock for a lot of us. I think that's the perfect name for him. I came from field hockey and I had heard of 'The Difference Maker.' I think it's very suitable for him.

P: Strangest thing that you do?

KS: I don't think I do anything. I guess I do things, but nothing that sticks out in my mind. I'm sure I am a strange person. I'm sure I have strange habits.

P: Like?

KS: I'm pretty preppy. Sometimes people like to poke fun at that. I'm not a crazy dresser. I'm pretty conservative.

P: That's not strange. This is Princeton. Try again.

KS: My roommates and I eat a lot of jello and diet coke. I always have a diet coke in my hand. I drink six or seven a day. I drink a lot. I love it. We eat a lot of jello in my room. I drink diet coke like it's water. I used to put whip cream on jello but I just got sick of it.

P: When did you start playing lacrosse?

KS: I started playing in third or fourth grade. I don't know. Where I'm from, everyone just plays really young. I guess we started in school and everyone was playing. I didn't know any differently. Kids at that time were playing soccer. We just played lacrosse.

P: What do you like about the sport?

KS: You can be creative with your shots, deceptive with your passes. The way I've always played, there's never been a set — I've never played with a really strict game plan. It's very free-flowing. It's fun because it's physical, but at the same time I think it's a pretty sport to watch. I played field hockey which is very technical. Lacrosse is not as technical. You can get away with more.

P: Has your team played any practical jokes?

KS: We get the gossip going around through our e-mail. This happened to a freshman: a girl on our team has a treadmill in her room so someone as a joke wrote the team run will be on the treadmill. Everyone knew that it was a joke except one freshman who showed up at the treadmill. She feels really stupid to this day.

P: Do you ever think what your life would have been like without sports?

KS: I do. But I really enjoy the teams. And I just enjoy the competition. It's something I think about, but at the same time, I enjoy the sports too much to not play. Princeton has so many things to offer, so it's hard. I play two sports. I have practice. It's hard because there are so many things I want to do. Just in a day where I want to hang out with my roommates or not have to worry about practice every afternoon. But whatever thoughts I have about not playing are outweighed by the sports.

P: What would you do?

KS: I'd just hang out more. I'd probably play a club sport. I would do more community service. I would study more. No. Don't write that.

P: Please?

KS: OK. You can write that.

P: You've scored ten goals in the last two games. What was that like?

KS: Yeah. I don't know. Our team's playing really well. It was nice, but it's not something, you know, it just happened. On any given day, anyone scores. It just happened to be me.