Wauconda juniors Isabelle and Meagan Gerle hear it a lot.
“We get told many times by people that we’re the same person,” Isabelle Gerle said.
It comes with the territory — and in some ways, those people are right.
“We have a lot of the same friends,” Isabelle Gerle said. “We have the same people around us. We act alike.”
But there’s at least one key difference.
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“We’re basically the same person but on opposite sides of the field,” Meagan Gerle said.
Isabelle Gerle, a forward, is the top scorer for Northern Lake County Conference contender Wauconda (1-2). She racked up 25 goals and was named all-conference last year, and she began this season with a hat trick in the Bulldogs’ 3-0 nonconference win over Vernon Hills on March 20.
Meagan Gerle, who assisted on one of Isabelle’s goals in the opener, has thrived as a center back. Also an all-conference selection last season, she “cleans up everything,” according to first-year Wauconda coach Conner Reid.
“Meagan was never running around,” Isabelle Gerle said. “She was like, ‘No, I want to stay here in front of the goal. I’m going to defend this with my whole life.’
“But I was running around. I wanted to be everywhere on the field.”
Reid delights in that fire-and-ice combination. But the Gerles provide more than that.
“Isabelle and Meagan really set the tone of my vision,” Reid said. “These two are an extension of me on and off the field. I can email them something during the day, and I know that it’s going to be communicated to the rest of the team.”
That was put to the test before the Bulldogs traveled to Mundelein, which has talented scorers, for their first road game last week.
At home, Meagan Gerle sat down with her father, Fred, to watch some tape of Mundelein’s previous game, a typical activity for them. Fred Gerle has coached his daughters since their early childhood, and Isabelle and Meagan have become not only high school soccer stars but also soccer junkies who love Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid CF as much as he does. They also love to watch film.
“We got the film and put it on the TV,” Meagan Gerle said. “We ended up watching the whole game, and my dad and I were talking about what I need to work on against their pressure, what I can tell my sister for offense, and hopefully give tips to the whole team.”
Meagan Gerle whipped up a quick scouting report — “a little paragraph,” as she called it — and sent it to her teammates. When Reid scanned the report, it looked eerily familiar.
“Everything she sent me was dead on — exactly what I had written up in my scouting report,” Reid said. “They really understand the game. The fact that I get to coach them for the next two years is really exciting, and that was a huge piece of my excitement when I got to take over this job.”
For the Gerle twins, playing together gets better with age.
“Not many people get to share a field with a sibling,” Meagan Gerle said. “It’s one of the best feelings. Ever since we were little, we’ve always been that dynamic duo on the opposite side of the field.”
That duo dazzled Wauconda as freshmen — combining for 14 goals and five assists — but their responsibilities have increased. They’re both captains, and they take the job seriously.
“I’m making it clear to underclassmen that I’m here for them,” Isabelle Gerle said. “I tell them that we’re all in this together. I would do anything to make them love what they’re doing and boost their confidence.”
Meagan Gerle understands why that’s important.
“When I came in as a freshman, I was scared,” she said. “Now I want to give our younger girls a chance to rely on me, to be the best player they can be. I don’t want them to ever feel scared to talk.”
The Gerles’ maturity has even impressed other coaches.
“Last year, I had coaches think that they were seniors when they were just sophomores,” Reid said. “The growth I see most is on the mental side of the sport. They’re so cerebral.
“And I know that if I say something to one of them, it sometimes innately goes to the other. It’s twin telepathy. I can just give them a look. I’ve never coached this caliber of athlete before.”
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter.
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