Soccer sister act share same dream

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Erin Denmark

The sisterly bond that senior midfielder Carlee Storey and junior midfielder McKenna Storey share give a stronger hold to the union of the Georgia Southern University women’s soccer team.

“From a young age, we’ve always played soccer together, and we’ve pretty much shared the same dream that we wanted to play division one soccer, and we always hoped that we’d be able to play together. It was like the ultimate dream come true when we ended up on the same team,” McKenna said.

These sisters feel more comfortable having their sibling on the team with them, knowing they will always have their support.

“It’s really exciting and really nice to know, no matter what, I’m going to have someone that will always have my back and who will always be there besides my other teammates,” Carlee said.

When the girls’ parents got a divorce, McKenna took the unfortunate event and transformed it into a great opportunity. Their parents lived in different districts, and McKenna decided to live with her mom in an AAAAAA district.  Carlee stayed with her father in the AAAA district for high school.

“I wanted to go to a bigger school and set myself apart and see how I did on my own. It worked out really well, and I ended up having a great experience, and I think it really helped prepare me for college soccer,” McKenna said.

Being in separate schools and districts, the girls could not play soccer together except club ball.

“McKenna decided that she wanted to play at a higher division in sports than I was in. We never played with each other, but we did play club soccer together,” Carlee said.

Even though they had some distance between them, Carlee still made the effort to attend McKenna’s soccer games to support her.

“I was able to make it to pretty much all of her high school games because mine was earlier in the afternoons and hers were at night. I would play and drive across town and be able to watch her play,” Carlee said.

Carlee initially went to Samford University for college, and McKenna wanted to join her there, but she decided GSU was the perfect choice.

“The previous coach ended up emailing me and flew me out for a visit, and I came on a recruiting trip for three days. I had an absolute blast and everything just clicked. I got along with all the girls and the academic program for my major looked really good. Everything fit well,” McKenna said.

Carlee transferred to GSU after her freshman year to join her sister as an Eagle.

“Initially I came here because my sister was coming here, but it’s turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made, so I’m really happy,” Carlee said.

According to Carlee and McKenna, their most memorable moment at GSU is one they shared together.

“The first round of playoffs last year against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, we beat them. When we played them early in the season, they beat us pretty badly, so it was a great feeling to come back as the last seed of the tournament and defeating the first seed on their home field. It was my first goal. It was an incredible feeling,” McKenna said.

Not only was this McKenna’s first goal, but her sister assisted her with a corner kick for McKenna to put it away with her head.

“My sister and I connected for her first career goal. It was really exciting because we knocked them out and went on,” Carlee said.

The team harmonizes really well on and off the field, but the Storey sisters are able to take it a step further and critique each other.

“I think we have really great team chemistry, and we get along really well. We enjoy it, we have fun, but it’s pretty business like we come out there to win. So it’s the same thing with my sister and I. It’s a little bit easier to get on each other and to get pissy when we are frustrated, but it hasn’t really happened this year,” McKenna said.

The sisters have faith in their team and each other to take on the Southern Conference with no fear.

McKenna said, “I think we are one of the better teams in the conference and that we can compete with anybody out there.”