Double Trouble: Talented twins lead Merrimack lacrosse
By Mike McMahon, The Eagle-Tribune
NORTH ANDOVER — Maddie and Mia Basile, sophomore twin sisters
on Merrimack College's 2-1 women's lacrosse team, have opponents
doing double takes.
These two personify identical twins. They look and even sound
alike. In fact, the only distinguishable difference between the two
is the number six on Mia's shirt, and the number eight on
Maddie's.
The sisters from Hampden, Mass., started playing lacrosse in sixth
grade, and there has never been a time since when they haven't been
paired together.
Fast forward seven years from when they first stepped on the field,
and the sisters are two of the deadliest threats on Merrimack's
roster, making up two of the team's top-three scorers.
They have that sixth sense for each other.
"It's weird, because I always seem to know where she is, or I can
always anticipate what she's going to do," said Mia, who had five
goals in an 18-14 win over Bentley last week; two of those goals
were assisted by Maddie.
"Both of us know what and where the other is doing. I know when she
is going to make a cut, and I know what her next move is, and that
makes it so easy for us to play together."
Added Maddie, "I always know where she is on the field, and I think
she always knows where I am out there. Part of it is because we've
been playing together for so long, but I know part of it is because
we know each other so well, too."
During their senior year at Minnechaug Regional High in Wilbraham,
they started their college searches. Wherever they went, it was
going to be a package deal.
"We looked at a ton of schools," Maddie said. "It was never really
talked about, but we wanted to go to the same school. We were both
looking at the same schools and we would visit together. I think we
both knew that we wanted to keep playing together.
"We went to UMass, a lot of schools. I think the ones we were
looking at knew that it would be both of us, or neither of us. It's
really strange, though, because we really never said it to each
other, and our parents never said anything to us about going to the
same school. I think it was almost assumed, and it just happened
that way."
The sisters have never played against each other, and were split on
whether or not they'd ever like to.
"I'd like to give it a shot, maybe once," said Maddie. "One of our
teammates, Lauren Leddy, her sister plays for Bryant and it was a
big thrill for her to play against her. I'd like to do it, but only
once. It might be fun. Someone would have bragging rights."
Added Mia, "No thanks! I am perfectly happy playing with her. I
know I'd like this more than going against her."
This season, both sisters have 12 points in three games. Maddie has
10 goals and two assists, while Mia has rifled nine goals and three
helpers.
Combined, the sisters have 155 points in 40 games over the course
of their relatively young collegiate careers.
Both had tremendous freshman seasons, and came the closest they
ever have to competing against each other. Both were vying for the
Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year award. Maddie finished with 39
goals and 30 assists, but Mia took home the honor with 62 points
(43 goals) in 17 games.
"I was happy for her," said Maddie. "It was so great for one of us
to win that. I was proud of her. We never really even thought about
it until the end of the year."