Resilient goalkeeper energizes Ellsworth Heart condition doesn’t deter Eagles’ Smith

As soccer practice carried on around him on a recent afternoon, Ellsworth’s Cory Smith made a run across the middle of the field and kicked a ball into the net. He slowed up, and stopped to watch what the rest of his team was doing. A few seconds later Smith found another ball, and hit another hard shot, this time into the other side of the net.

Smith was displaying skills he hasn’t had a chance to show off in an actual game since, as an 8-year-old, he was told the heart condition he was born with would prevent him from doing much running.

Since then, the fiery and energetic Smith has been a goalkeeper, first for local YMCA teams and then on school squads. Now a junior at Ellsworth High, Smith misses playing in the field but he’s made the adjustment to being stuck in the net.

It’s an irony not lost on Smith, whose nicknames include “Crazy” and “Spaz” because of how fired-up he gets before games. But if it means helping his teammates, he’s resigned to doing his part by guarding the goal.

He’ll be in the starting lineup when the Eagles take on Yarmouth at 1 p.m. Saturday for the Class B state title at the Point Lookout field in Lincolnville.

Smith has done well this year. With the help of a stellar defensive unit, Smith let in just seven goals in 14 regular-season games, which Ellsworth coach Brian Higgins believes is a school record.

Yet he knows – and understands – how important it is for him to lay off extended physical activity. He has an irregular heart beat and a collection of problems called tetralogy of Fallot, which includes a heart defect and narrowing of the heart valve that leads to his pulmonary artery and makes for a decreased flow of blood to the lungs. Smith still has a scar from open-heart surgery when he was 13 months old.

Long periods of hard running sometimes make him feel dizzy, and even while resting he can feel his heart beating. Even everyday activities such as walking up stairs – and by walking Smith means taking two steps at a time at a fast pace – can give him pause.

“I’ve had dizzy spells. That’s as bad as it’s gotten,” he said. “But I guess if you do take it too far, bad things can happen, like death.”

But nothing could stop Smith from playing soccer this fall.

Smith was even supposed to have surgery in Portland on Sept. 30, but when he realized the recovery time would be up to three weeks instead of the two or three days he was anticipating, Smith and his father decided to reschedule two hours before the surgery’s starting time. He missed that afternoon’s game.

Doctors were fine with rescheduling the procedure, in which stents were to be placed in Smith’s pulmonary artery.

Smith didn’t tell anyone of his decision. The next day he strolled into practice, gear in tow, and asked Higgins if he could address the team. He told the Eagles that he wanted to put off the surgery. His teammates understood.

“On one hand it’s your life and your health and you want that to be 100 percent, and on the other hand it’s a great team,” Smith said. “I mean, look where we are now, and I’d like to contribute to that and not be on the sidelines watching and recuperating.”

Higgins would love to have Smith’s ability and spirit on the field somewhere, but those qualities translate well in goal, too.

“He has great speed,” Higgins said. “You see that. But he’s a valuable asset in goal, with that speed and enthusiasm. He’s awesome.”

With his renowned energy, it’s no surprise that Smith isn’t a sit-back-and-watch type of ‘keeper. He constantly shouts out instructions to his teammates and isn’t afraid to come out of the goal to make a save.

“I’m always ready to go and I try to get everybody else in that frame of mind,” he said. “I’ve always been real aggressive, ready to play all the time. That’s just the way I am. I have tons of energy.”

Smith used to put that energy toward basketball, too. But at age 9 he was told that sport was out of the question, too. Smith still recalls feeling crushed the day he was told he couldn’t play anymore.

Nowadays he gets his basketball fix by managing – he runs the Ellsworth High freshmen, junior varsity and varsity boys teams as well as the varsity girls. Smith balances that with schoolwork, a job in the detailing department at Morrison Chevrolet & Oldsmobile in Ellsworth, and getting ready for baseball, which he calls his safety sport.

Smith pitches and plays center field.

But he still sometimes feels he’s not doing very much, especially during practices. Smith spends time working on his goalie skills such as punting the ball, and does take part in some drills with the team, but for the most part he’s on his own, kicking balls into the net just like he did when he was 8.

“It’s almost like I’m lazy,” Smith said. “But you’ve got to understand that it’s a serious condition and if you take it too far there are consequences that are pretty great.”