Sister Act: O'Connells work to help Hoosiers

"Oh! Meg's out! Someone get her out!" junior Kate O'Connell yelled from a stationary bike on the sideline of Mellencamp Pavilion. This comment came after Meg was struck in the leg with a ball on a practice penalty corner.\nIs that Kate being a concerned teammate?\nNope. Try a fun-poking sister. After joking around and screaming loud enough for everyone in the pavilion to hear her call her sister out, Kate's sister-side came out when freshman Meg O'Connell returned to the sideline.\n"You OK, Meg?"\nThat's the way things go for the O'Connell sisters. After all, they started playing field hockey when their sticks were just about "a foot and a half long," Kate said. They might both play field hockey for the Hoosiers, but that's about where the similarities end.\nThey aren't exactly the modern day Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito (probably because they aren't twins), but the St. Louis natives have about as much in common as the Hollywood duo.\n"I think off the field, they are very, very different," Kelly Yates, the sisters' mother, said. "They play different, but they have different personalities, too. They bring out a little extra competition in each other."\nYates isn't only a mother giving her opinion; she's also a coach. Yates coached her daughters throughout their high school careers as a prominent figure in Midwest field hockey. She is also the founder of Gateway Field Hockey and, among a myriad of other impressive accomplishments, was the 2004 National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Junior Coach of the Year.\n"She is like Miss Field Hockey in the Midwest," IU coach Amy Robertson said. "She knows field hockey, appreciates it and is a great supporter of the sport and program."\nWhen Meg was visiting some of her other top school choices such as Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State, Kate always made sure to text message her younger sister after an IU victory. \nEventually, Kate's text messaging paid off, as Meg followed in her sister's footsteps and is a freshman at IU this fall. She holds the national career record for assists in high school and has several individual achievements to her name. She also has succeeded as becoming a big part of the IU team.\n"When I heard Meg was coming, I wasn't sure how it'd work out between the sisters," junior goalkeeper Haley Exner said. "But they are great together. On the field, you can see when they make a pass that it wouldn't happen with someone else and them."\nThat special connection the sisters have on the field is something their coach recognizes as well.\n"Right from the very beginning, when Meg would get the ball, it's like she already knew where Kate would be," Robertson said. "I don't even see her look. It's not a coincidence. They definitely have a connection on the field."\n"We just connect on the field," Kate said. "It's weird. We've been playing so well even though we hadn't played together in a while."\nMeg agreed, noting that most of their "chemistry is on the field."\nThough they succeed when on the same team, when pitted against each other in practice, they go to battle.\n"There is some competition," Meg said. "Whenever we do things, we get really competitive with each other until we fight some."\nFrom Meg's coach, that is a major understatement.\n"When they compete one-on-one, it's awesome." Robertson said, "They really go hard at each other. The sibling rivalry sparks up in a good way."\nSo far, the O'Connell sisters have gained 11 points total this year for the Hoosiers. Their contrasted play has helped the Hoosiers get off to a 8-1 start this season.\n"Kate is strong and hits the ball harder, and Meg is small and fast," Yates said of her daughters' play. "They are both very good passers, very smart on the field."\nAfter her sister poked fun at her in practice, Meg explained how their childhood squabbles unfolded.\n"We'd get in some fights, but I was younger, and I would just cry and get my way," she said.\nThe O'Connells might not be teammates for very much longer, but they'll always be sisters.