Even after four years as starters on Mount Hebron's girls lacrosse team, Meghan Doherty and Jen Giles still consider the first time they played together in Vikings uniforms one of their fondest memories.
"I remember our first game," Meghan said turning to Jen, "and you said, 'This is what we've been waiting for.' We had been watching Mount Hebron games ever since I could remember."
Meghan and Jen grew up watching their sisters play for the Vikings and dreaming of the day they would step on the same field. It all started with Jackie Doherty and Jacqueline Giles, eight years older and also starters from their first game as Vikings freshmen in 2004.
"They were always trying to keep up with us," Jackie Doherty said of the younger sisters who are best friends, as were their oldest siblings.
"They were always on the sideline with sticks in hand, all decked out in pigtails wearing our lacrosse gear, swarming all over — watching but also playing and trying to get people to watch them. They wanted to be just as good as we were."
Like their big sisters, Meghan and Jen were All-Metro players and Under Armour All-Americans. They'll play in the Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic Friday night at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium.
But Jackie and Jacqueline agree that their younger sisters surpassed them. Meghan, a defender, and Jen, a midfielder, are both headed to play for national champion Maryland next year.
Meghan and Jen attribute most of their success to their older sisters, including two more Giles sisters, Jessica, 24, and Julianne, 22.
"They just taught us everything without them literally teaching us," Jen said. "Just watching them and being around them kind of made us have more determination and more heart for the game. Seeing their passion just made our passion grow. I've always wanted to be like all my sisters and I'm sure Meghan has wanted to be like her sisters. That desire to be like them just drove us to play harder and practice more."
While Jen, 17, is the youngest of four sisters — finishing a run of 13 straight seasons with at least one Giles sister in the Mount Hebron lineup — Meghan, 18, is the youngest of six siblings, including three brothers and sister Mady, who played softball.
Perhaps their only regret is that they never had the chance to play with their sisters at Mount Hebron. The three older Giles sisters were Vikings together for one year, but Jen didn't arrive until Julianne had graduated.
Still, their loyalty to Mount Hebron never wavered. Jen knew she was headed to Mount Hebron all along, but Meghan said she had to talk her mother out of moving her to McDonogh, which in 2014 surpassed the 103-game winning streak that the Vikings set in 2007 when Jackie Doherty and the oldest three Giles sisters played.
"I was like, 'Mom, no. All my friends are going to Hebron,'" Meghan said. "McDonogh's a great school, but I was like, 'Mom, this is where Jackie went and this is where Mady went and I want to be part of Hebron.' I had wanted to go to Hebron for so long and I finally made her let me stay here."
As players for a Vikings team that finished No. 8 and 13-2 this spring, Meghan excelled on defense and Jen dominated the midfield. Mount Hebron coach Trish Derwart called Meghan "an intellectual defender" with a great knack for anticipation while Jen had an eye for the goal but also did a lot of the "dirty work" in the midfield that resulted in goals.
Derwart said the girls had an "almost sibling-like connection" that had developed through playing on the same club team since they were 5. They were ready to start from the first day of their freshman season.
"They could kind of envision themselves in these roles years ago," Derwart said. "I think that's really helpful, especially with siblings who you love and adore, and wanting to replicate what they've done. That's a mental edge not everybody gets. With that, I think they grew up with more expectations on them than maybe some other players would …. which is a gift and a burden at times. But the girls were really able to come through and make a name for themselves. That was what was exciting about being part of their journey — they came in as the little sisters and they came out as Jen and Meghan."
Although both committed to Maryland before their sophomore year, they didn't plan it that way.
"We never, ever, ever talked about recruiting," Jen said. "When you're in that age of recruiting, every time you meet someone in lacrosse, it's, 'How's the recruiting process going?' So I think me and Meghan were both done with that. We don't need to talk about it; we can have a normal conversation."
Meghan said she didn't even know Jen was looking at Maryland. Even when they were little, they never talked about going to the same college. Jackie and Jacqueline never talked about it either, and they went to different schools — Jackie to Notre Dame and Jacqueline to Georgetown. Jessica and Julianne played at James Madison.
Meghan committed first, opting for Maryland over Florida because she wanted to stay close to home and her family. Jen, whose cousin Taylor Hensh was already playing for the Terps, made her decision soon after, choosing Maryland over James Madison.
"I called Meghan up and said, 'Hey Meg, we're going to school together for four more years."
No one could be happier about that than Terps coach and Mount Hebron graduate Cathy Reese, who has her first recruits from her alma mater. The last Mount Hebron graduate to play for Maryland was Annie Colins in 2005.
"They're really special players," said Reese. "They're both really good athletes and they work hard all over the field in all the sports that they play and they were fun to watch during their high school career whether it be soccer, basketball or in lacrosse. I'm really excited about adding them to our team next year and for what they're going to bring. I think they have a really good energy about them."
The part of their lacrosse career that they had planned so long for came and went quicker than they could have imagined, but they're ready for Maryland and a chance to add a national championship to their resumes.
"I'm thinking the babies did a good job keeping up the legacy," Meghan said. "I hope we didn't let anybody down. I'm proud of Jen. I know she's proud of me.
"We're just happy we got to experience exactly what our sisters experienced and more. It's going to be missed, but I'm excited to see what's ahead."
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