Twin Killing

The return of sisters Jill and Andrea Callahan to the Penn women's soccer team from illness has provided a boost to the struggling team. This season has been full of highs and lows for the Penn women's soccer team. From a 1-4-1 start through what coach Patrick Baker considered the team's "biggest win of the season" against Delaware on Tuesday, the Quakers (5-8-2, 1-4 Ivy League) have had to deal with much diversity. Yesterday, the team traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., for today's game against Cornell (7-8, 1-4), a team currently tied for seventh place in the Ivy League. The game is a make-up of their rained-out October 19 contest. As the Quakers finish out this season with today's match and Saturday's duel with Princeton, they know that, unlike last year, they will not finish with a winning record. However, with one win in the conference already, Penn needs only to win one of its final two games to break the school record for Ivy wins in a season. Looking back on the year, certain things stick out as possible reasons why this team has not been as successful as it originally promised to be. One of the main causes has been a preseason illness that affected two of the team's most promising young players the Quakers have ever had -- freshmen forwards Jill and Andrea Callaghan. "When you have the top two recruits to this point in time in a team's history, not to be able to play a full month or the whole year is devastating," Baker said. "I knew what they could do out in the field and what they could provide for us. To not have them early in the season, especially when you need a nice little run to get some confidence, was tough." The Callaghans were diagnosed in the preseason with a muscle enzyme deficiency. At one time, the doctors thought that they would miss the whole season, but they were able to play in 12 out of Penn's 17 games. Since the Callaghans are triplets (the third sister attends the College of New Jersey), a genetic disorder seemed to be a logical cause for the deficiency. But doctors have ruled that possibility out. The first game back for the Callaghans was against Monmouth. "They got in for the last 20 minutes, and a handful of kids that were sitting out gave them a standing ovation," Baker said. "They were so excited to have them out there." That night, both sisters came close to connecting for goals, each shooting just wide on their first attempts as collegians. But it did not take the Callaghans long to make an impact. In the next game, Andrea scored her first career goal, which proved to Penn's only goal in its 1-0 win over Temple. Jill added her first goal a few weeks later against Lehigh. The Callaghans are used to the spotlight. While playing for Moorestown High School in South Jersey, they reached the state finals in their last three years and were crowned state champions their last two, compiling an 87-13-6 record over four seasons. They were both named to the first-team all-state team in their junior and senior years. Andrea finished her high school career with 103 goals, ninth on the all-time New Jersey list, and Jill finished with 99 goals, 12th best on the list. Although Jill earned All-American honors her senior season, it was Andrea that was named team MVP. Heavily recruited by many eastern schools, the sisters made it known that they wanted to stay close to home. They did not become interested in playing for Penn until the summer before their senior year. That summer, their high school team attended a soccer camp at Trenton State, now the College of New Jersey. "Coach Baker was our coach at the Trenton State camp that our high school went to," Andrea Callaghan said. "I loved him and thought he was a great guy." A few months later, they committed to Penn. "When Jill Callaghan called me and told me that they were ready to commit to Penn, I got up and did a little Irish jig in my office," Baker said. "No one was around, but I was ecstatic." Many were surprised that the identical sisters chose to attend the same school, especially since their fraternal triplet sister Crissy chose the College of New Jersey. "I was surprised they went to the same school," Crissy said. "I thought we were all going to go our own ways to get space from each other. I think it has worked out really well. They seem to be getting along a lot better. "I like being on my own, and it has brought us a lot closer. I am glad we decided to go our separate ways." After playing with each other since kindergarten, competing together has become like second nature for Jill and Andrea. "I feel like I play much better when she is on the field with me," Andrea said. "I know where she is going to be if I am taking the ball down the sideline. I have an advantage over other people because I know where she is going to put it." Despite their identical appearances, both Jill and Andrea have their own way of putting the ball in the back of the net. "They are two different types of players," Moorestown coach Glenn Porter said. "Jill is a finesse player. Most of her game came beating people one on one with slick moves. Annie had a lot of speed and was more of a go-straight-to-the-net-type player." Although the Callaghans were dominant at the high school level, it was not obvious how that would translate to the college level. "At any Division I school, almost every player was all this and all that," Baker said. But the Callaghans were not worried by the difference in competition after playing against top-caliber players in the state tournament. However, they admit that there are some differences that surprised them. "Coming in I had no idea what to expect," Jill said. "All I heard was how tough it was going to be. I talked to people in college and heard how much more physical it was than high school. It is definitely a lot more intense." So far, the sisters have found Penn to be an ideal situation. The Quakers received an extra needed boost when the Callaghans were healthy enough to rejoin the team. After beginning the season without the Callaghans in the lineup, the team slumped to a 2-5-1 record. But with the sisters starting, Penn has gone 3-3-1. Baker was posed with a difficult decision when the Callaghans were to return -- when to bring them into the games. "It was a tough spot to be in, and I wanted to do the morally and ethically right thing," Baker said. "You are saying to yourself, 'Man, I have got to have these kids out on the field.' " In their shortened season, Andrea is tied with junior Darah Ross for the team lead in scoring with four goals. Jill has also been a major contributor to the team, scoring one goal and assisting on two others. In Tuesday's game against Delaware, the sisters broke a 1-1 standstill when Jill deflected a shot off the goalpost and Andrea punched in the rebound for the game-winning goal. As the year comes to a close, Baker looks forward to the coming years with an offense led by the Callaghans. "I will put it out there because we are gauging for it," Baker said. "I want to be one of the top two or three teams in the Ivies, if not the best. I would venture to say that by the Callaghans' junior year, we will be the top of the Ivies."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.