Family ties bind Red and Blue's up-and-coming Kaitlyn Moore

Though brother and sister Kaitlyn and Ryan Moore are separated by more than 3,000 miles during the school year, they’ve found an interesting way to stay connected with one another: soccer.

While Kaitlyn plies her trade as a junior midfielder for the Quakers women’s soccer team, Ryan finished up a successful career as a forward for California after transferring there following two seasons at Washington.

Athletic success has always seemed to follow around the Moore siblings.

The Moore’s grew up in San Leandro, Calif., and both attended the Head-Royce School as multi-sport athletes. Kaitlyn earned accolades as the captain of both her soccer and basketball teams, and was named first-team All-Bay Counties League for her skills on the pitch in 2008 and 2009.

Ryan found a niche for himself on the soccer team as well, earning first-team All-BCL honors during his four years at Head-Royce and shattering a school record with 30 goals in his freshman season.

Additionally, there have been plenty of parallels between both Kaitlyn and Ryan’s college careers. Each sibling has played similarly important roles on their respective teams.

In his freshman season at Washington, Ryan earned honorable-mention All-Pac 10 honors after finishing second on the team with four goals and two assists.

Kaitlyn could wind up playing a similar role for the Quakers this year. After notching two goals last season, she could be the spark this season in a deep midfield corps.

Coach Darren Ambrose sees a bright season ahead for the Red and Blue’s midfielders.

“Our midfielding [in general] has lots of personalities and I think we could be really quite deep in that spot,” he said, adding that Kaitlyn has shown much “maturity and growth” since last year.

Kaitlyn was only one of two freshmen on the Penn squad in 2011 to play in 17 games. As a freshman, Ryan started in 13 of 14 games, as well.

For Kaitlyn, Ryan’s presence has been invaluable to her development as a soccer player.

“We played soccer together all throughout our childhood and we were always competitive with each other,” she said. “He always had advice for me and gave me tips, and he was just a really good influence just watching him play.”

With the lessons she’s learned from Ryan, Kaitlyn hopes to lift the Quakers to an Ivy League title this season.

“I’m definitely hoping to be there defensively for the team,” Kaitlyn said. “I think that’s been my role the past couple years, and I’m also hoping to step up more offensively and add to that.”

In the online version, this article previously featured a photo that was not Kaitlyn Moore, and was subsequently taken down.

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