Often being referred to as twins, juniors Janie Kearl and Natalie Vukic share a similar personality as well as similar looks. In a nutshell, they like to consider themselves the same person.
“We are best friends,” Kearl said. “We basically do everything together. Our personalities are very similar. We love the same types of movies, the same types of music and we love the same food — it’s just awesome.”
When they both started as freshman at the U, the duo automatically clicked. Kearl and Vukic first started out as really good friends. Then in the spring of their freshmen year, the pair began spending more and more time with each other as they discovered some similarities between them. Ever since then they have been best friends.
At the beginning, Kearl knew quite a few people on the team, but having someone from out-of-state that she didn’t know prior to coming to Utah made her experience more enjoyable. Kearl is grateful she was able to make such a close friend right from the beginning of her college career.
For Vukic, having a friendship right off the bat like that helped, because when she first came to college, everything seemed kind of crazy. But having that really close friendship helped her transition into college life. Although they did not live together their freshmen year, for the past two years Kearl and Vukic have been roommates.
“Through soccer and being roomies, we have spent tons of time together just doing new things and going to new places, traveling with the team and everything,” Vukic said. “Just like any other kind of teammate, good friend, or normal relationship, our friendship has progressed into something great.”
On the field, it has been said that as far as great combos go, Vukic and Kearl are one of the best. Being best friends since their freshmen year shows not just off the field, but on the field as well.
According to head coach Rich Manning, he believes when there is a good friendship between two people, it develops a lot of trust, which is an important element in the game of soccer. In soccer, there are a lot of mistakes — not everything a person attempts to do will work out — but the important thing is to keep going. Manning sees that the trust between Kearl and Vukic is important to the team.
“You can see it out there when they are working together,” Manning said. “I think there is a huge element of trust between those two that if something doesn’t work out, it will next time. Also, the communication piece where they know what they are going to do on the field and their strong, emotional connection is really important for them as well.”
Vukic feels that their dynamic on the field is great, because it reflects their entire relationship. Having great chemistry on the field, the two are able to build off of each other.
Kearl added they are able to read each other better than others — Kearl knows what Vukic is going to do before she gets the ball, and she knows what she is thinking once she gets it.
Playing with Vukic is something Kearl enjoys. Although they don’t get to play on the same side very often, when they do get the opportunity, it’s something Kearl enjoys, because she feels that her and Vukic work well together. Since Kearl is a right back and Vukic is a left forward, they often go up against each other during practice and they push each other beyond their limits.
“[Playing with Kearl] is awesome,” Vukic said. “Sometimes she is on the left side with me, not always, but when she is, it is cool to be able to play in the same area as her, because we have sort of an on-field connection, and it’s fun.”
When the two are on the field, Manning sees them as the energizers of the team. Being the fittest players and constantly working, Kearl and Vukic never stop working no matter how tired they might get towards the end of a game.
“They are fierce competitors,” Manning said. “That’s what comes to mind when I think of them — fiercely competitive players on the field.”
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