SISTER ACT

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Freshman Sarah Wolfe’s soccer career didn’t exactly start off on the right foot.

As a child, she wasn’t running up and down the youth soccer fields scoring goals or fending off balls from the back of the net. Instead, Wolfe spent most of her time watching her teammates and daydreaming about the rest of the day’s activities.

“I didn’t want to play, but my parents made me,” Wolfe said. “So I would just sit down on the field and pick grass. I wouldn’t play.”

Now 11 years later, Wolfe is glad her parents kept her in the sport. Not only is she a starting forward on Lakewood Ranch High’s varsity girls soccer team, but also Wolfe is currently the Lady Mustangs’ leading scorer with 11 goals and two assists.

But more importantly than that, Wolfe is enjoying playing soccer with her older sister Kaitlyn. This season marks the first time the two sisters have played on the same team.

“It’s exciting because we do work well together and we can always find each other on the field,” said Kaitlyn, who plays outside midfield for Lakewood. 

Her sister agreed.

“She made me feel a lot more comfortable on varsity,” Sarah said. “I like playing together a lot because she’s always there for me, and she’s always positive.

“She always makes me laugh on the field,” she said “She’s really clumsy, and she never fails to trip at least one time in the game.”

The girls, who are only 20 months apart, are the only pair of sisters on the Lady Mustangs soccer team, which has proven to be beneficial a number of times throughout the season.

Before every game, Sarah burns a CD, and on their way to the game, the sisters roll down the windows and belt out song after song to get pumped up for the game.

“Singing isn’t in the family at all,” Sarah said.

And although the girls likely will not be making an appearance on “American Idol” anytime soon, Kaitlyn and Sarah have a harmonious chemistry on the field.

“She gets the goals and I assist her — that’s the only reason she has more goals than me,” said Kaitlyn, who has three goals and 11 assists so far this season.

As the taller one of the two, Kaitlyn is known for being more aggressive, talkative and a leader on the team, while Sarah is known for her speed and ability to break past defenders.

In addition to capitalizing on one another’s strengths, the Wolfe sisters have a tendency to know what the other one is feeling well before anyone else.

“I think I get mad at her more because I know she’s a good player, and I can easily recognize when she’s having an off day,” Kaitlyn said. “I tend to push her more — sometimes not in the most positive way — and motivate her. Since she’s a freshman, I want her to really stand out.”

When the girls aren’t busy playing soccer for Lakewood or the Braden River Rage, Kaitlyn and Sarah often can be found hanging out together at the beach or jamming out to one of Sarah’s personal mixes.

“We’re pretty close in age, so there’s always that other person to hangout with,” Kaitlyn said. “We like to hangout, have fun and goof around.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].