Meet Katie and Elle O'Brien, the twin tandem helping Gilbert dominate in girls soccer

Gilbert girls soccer co-head coach Danny Jones couldn't always tell twin sisters Katie and Elle O'Brien apart.

“I remember when they were freshmen,” Jones said. “Coach (Heather) Currans knew them from before, but I was like 'Who’s who? We need to put a name tag on them.'”

He had Katie in building and trade class at school, but still had a tough time figuring out who was who during practice.

“They don’t even try half the time,” Elle O'Brien said. “It’s just 'twin', or 'Kelle' (Katie and Elle combined) is a good one.”

Then he started noticing a difference in their hairstyles.

"I know who Katie is now, she's got darker hair and Elle's got the highlights," Jones said. "I have to look at the hair to find it out. They look so much alike."

They have similar personalities too.

“They’re such bubbly humans,” said Gilbert midfielder Claire Koenig. “It just keeps the team uplifted. It’s fun to be around them.”

Even though Katie is a midfielder and defender, and Elle a forward, they even play similar styles on the soccer field.

They are both highly skilled and intelligent players who have become among the best players at their positions in Class 1A entering their senior season.

More: 10 Ames-area Iowa high school girls soccer players to watch ahead of the 2024 season

As a junior, Elle suffered shoulder and groin injuries that sidelined her for about a month. But by the end of the season, she still managed to earn All-Raccoon River Conference honorable mention accolades.

At the state tournament, Elle scored the winning goal in a 1-0 double-overtime victory over defending champion Des Moines Christian in the semifinals. That landed her on the all-tournament team.

Her sister was supporting her the whole way.

“Whenever I see her take the ball, I make sure she plays a good play,” Katie O’Brien said. “If she does, I say 'Good job, do it again.'”

While Elle was out with her injury, Katie helped pick up the slack. She was named to the All-RRC first team and she emerged as one of the top midfielders and defenders in all of 1A.

“I’m glad she could fill my shoes in a way,” Elle said. “She knew I wanted to be out there, so she carried it on for me.”

Put them together and you have an unstoppable and reliable force that will give Gilbert a chance to make it back to the 1A state championship game, where the Tigers fell to Bishop Heelan by a 2-0 score a year ago.

More: Elle O'Brien's goal in OT sends Gilbert past DMC and into the 1A girls soccer championship game

“They’re like rocks out there,” Jones said. “They came in as freshmen a little hesitant about their own abilities. Right now, they’re confident and leaders. They’ve grown as people, and they help bring everybody together.”

Gilbert opened the 2024 season Monday at home against rival Nevada. The previous three meetings had gone to PKs.

Not this time.

Elle picked up right where she left off, scoring the winning goal two minutes into the first overtime to give Gilbert a 1-0 victory.

“After three years of going into PKs against Nevada, I decided it’s time to end that,” Elle said. “I’m happy about that.”

The sisters were dishing out high-fives and hugs after the victory. But things are not always rosy between them.

“They are competitive,” Jones said. “Sometimes I’m afraid they are going to fight each other.”

They fuel each other to become better players.

“We want to be better than the other one,” Elle O’Brien said. “That's for sure.”

The sibling rivalry also brings them closer together.

“Sometimes we really love each other, other times not," Katie said. "But I’m always here to support her.”

They do a tremendous job of keeping each other in line.

“Those two can say anything to each other on the field,” Jones said. “They can bounce off each other. They can tell each other when they screw up and they’re happy for each other when they succeed. They’ve got a little twin thing going on.”

Sarah Thatcher is a forward and center-midfielder for the Tigers and a senior classmate of the O'Briens. She grew up with the twins, and everyone calls them triplets when they are together.

“It’s pretty special,” Thatcher said. “I like being the third O’Brien.”

She knows firsthand how competitive the twins can be, and how their drive and desire to win played a key role in Gilbert reaching last year's 1A title game.

“We go way back,” Thatcher said. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone work quite as hard as these two. To see it pay off means a lot. To be able to play my senior season with them is going to be special."

Gilbert is replacing several players from last year's team, but judging from the win over Nevada, the Tigers look like they have not missed a beat. It might be hard to tell the O'Brien twins apart, but it is not hard to figure out how they want to finish their final girls soccer season in a Gilbert uniform.

“We want to get back to where we were at state,” Katie said, "and beat Bishop Heelan.”

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: O'Brien twins anticipate a big senior season with Gilbert girls soccer