Through nine games, the men's collegiate soccer player who leads the nation in assists with seven, had just one assist all last season.

Giving his teammates the opportunity to score wasn't graduate student Owen Smith's job when he played for Oakland University for four years when he scored 13 goals.

Has he ever changed around his game for Western Michigan University in 2024. 

Smith has seven assists, and he isn't zeroing in on just one or two teammates. The New Zealander's seven assists have gone to six different players. And he has scored one goal this season, too.

WMU (6-0-3 overall, 1-0-1 Missouri Valley Conference), the defending MVC champion, is ranked ninth in the nation and is riding a 30-game unbeaten string. The Broncos host one of the toughest teams in the MVC, Missouri State (5-2, 2-0), on Saturday at noon. Last season, WMU won the MVC postseason tournament with a 2-1 victory over Missouri State, 2-1.

''Credit my teammates for scoring a lot of goals and I just happen to be in the right place to get the assist,'' he said modestly. ''The front guys have gone crazy and the options they give me when I'm on the ball, well, I just have too many choices to choose from.
''They are putting the ball in the back of the net and doing the hard job. I'm just giving them the ball.''

This season, Smith has two assists with Braxton Arpachinda and single assists with Christian Shannon, Connor Burkett, Noah James, Roni Sylejmani and Carson Hodgson. His only goal came on a penalty kick against Akron.
''When Owen was young, he was banging in goals left, right and center,'' his dad, Mike, said. ''But when he got older, he was more of a natural supplier."

''He has some big lads out front so I told him to just find them with the ball.''

Smith has only been a Bronco for around four months, but he is already well respected by his teammates. His family flew in from New Zealand last Friday and attended a practice prior to Sunday's 2-1 win over Evansville. Every member of WMU's team came over to shake their hands and thank them for coming to the U.S.

''Owen is well respected on the team,'' WMU head coach Chad Wiseman said. ''He's more of a 'we guy' and not an 'I guy'."

''It's to the point that when he gets the ball in the attacking half, we expect him to make a play. It feels like he's been here a couple of years, not a couple of months.''
Smith expects himself to make those plays, too.

''When I get the ball, I look for players making runs to the box, which they are excellent at,'' he said. ''I put the ball where it needs to be and they do the rest.''

That attitude is what Wiseman was looking for when the head coach and his staff saw Smith had put himself in the transfer portal after finishing up four years at Oakland. Having played Oakland in each of the past three seasons, Smith was well known to WMU.

''Every time we played against Oakland, he was the No. 1 target on our scouting report,'' Wiseman said. ''When we had the opportunity to bring him to Kalamazoo, it was a no brainer, it was just can we make it work?
''He moved here during the summertime and he's fit in really well.''

Moving around, not only on the field and with new teams, is nothing new for Smith. Growing up in New Zealand, he left home when he was 13 years old to go to the Wellington Phoenix team boarding school for academics and to play top-flight soccer. Then he moved to Oakland for four years.

''I was used to being away from home when I was younger, but going halfway around the world to play was a whole 'nother ballgame,'' Smith said. ''It was a big step, it was a tough decision to make, but once I got to the United States, I felt right at home.''

What he did find is that he had to tweak the way he played a game he has loved since he could walk.

''It is a more physical game here than in New Zealand,'' he said. ''It's more a technical game in New Zealand, while here, it's more strength and speed which is tough for me to deal with because I'm not one of the biggest lads on the team (he's 5-feet, 8-inches tall).

''I had to adjust my game, but I've found my way. I have to rely on my ball skills which get me out of some tight situations and put me in a position to make the assists I've been making. With this team, I have the physicality around me and I can use that to create more space for me.''

Another plus for Smith is he knows how to compete for championships, something which is in WMU's DNA. As a sophomore, Oakland won the Horizon League title to make the NCAA tournament. As a senior, Oakland was edged in the Horizon League championship game.

''Wanting to win and knowing how to win are two different things, and playing for Oakland, you learn how to play for championships,'' Wiseman said. ''There are certain characteristics which come with a player who has competed for championships at this level and Owen has done that.

''The moment is never going to get the best of Owen. We still haven't seen his best soccer yet. He is learning about some of the weapons he has around him and figuring out how to put them in better positions.''

This season, he is finding teammates in very good positions.