Most siblings grow up playing everything together — from backyard tag to hide-and-seek to sports. But up until now, Macey and Addie Shock had never been on the same team.
Macey, a sophomore forward, and Addie, a freshman defender, now play together contributing to the Marquette women’s soccer team. Head coach Markus Roeders said their close relationship is evident.
“They have a great connection. They lean on and push each other at times,” Roeders said. “When Macey found out that Addie committed here to Marquette, it gave her some extra excitement and spark.”
However, when Addie was going through the recruitment process, Macey said she tried not to influence her.
“We never talked about (playing together) because we never wanted to get too ahead of ourselves,” Macey said. “We both just wanted to give each other the experience of figuring (out) the whole decision-making thing individually.”
The idea of sisters playing together is not new to Roeders, but he said the Shock sisters have quickly stood out.
“In regard to having sisters in our program throughout the years, they fall in line with some of the best,” Roeders said. “It speaks a lot about them as (people).”
While the Shocks joins a team full of sister-like relationships, Roeders said the two still have their biological tie.
The family atmosphere Roeders has established within the team made Marquette an easy choice for Macey, she said.
“From my first visit, I knew I wanted to come (here),” Macey said. “I just wanted to be committed to this program from the first time I came here. It had everything I wanted.”
Despite feeling at home at MU, there was still something missing for Macey: her younger sister.
“We went to this really small (high) school together. Both of our graduating classes had 60 people in it,” Macey said. “We would see each other in the halls, have lunch together. We are so close, not just in age. Not only is she my sister, but she is also my best friend.”
Fast forward to September 2019, and the two are now back together. Roeders said their sisterly competition pushes them to make each other better.
Macey said that mentality is something they cultivated from their practices, training and workouts together for their hometown club team Ohio Premier.
“She was always my competition in practice,” Macey said. “We know how to play against each other and how hard we can be on each other.”
The sisters play different positions, but Roeders said they’re a perfect fit.
“Macey has more of that attacking mindset, more of the drive to go towards the net, take on players and create opportunities to score,” Roeders said. “Addie is more of a defensive-minded player. Physically she is taller (than Macey). She has this ability to play the ball out either in her range of passing or balls in the air.”
Even though she’s a freshman, Addie has started in all but one game so far.
“I was definitely surprised (about the starts),” Addie said. “I worked really hard preseason to get here, and I think it was stressful in the beginning, but now I am feeling more comfortable. I figured out my role on the team.”
Addie and the rest of the back line have been the strength of the team so far, which she said she attributes to the leadership of senior goalie Maddy Henry, graduate student defender Bri Jaeger and senior defender Emily Hess.
The engineering major sees all her time as one of the two center backs on the line. Jaeger, the other center back, said she has seen a lot of positives in Addie so far.
“She adds some height and physicality,” Jaeger said. “She has really great long balls and is accurate.”
While her sister started right away, Macey didn’t see game action until nine games into the season, mainly due to her ankle injury.
“It has definitely been a grind,” Macey said. “When I got my chance, I just wanted to show myself, my family, my team, my coaches that I am capable of playing at this level and want to impact this team and win.”
Although she didn’t see the time right away, Roeders said he is happy with what he has seen from his forward.
“I really applaud her for staying positive during all of this,” Roeders said. “She has practiced really well the past two weeks. Her efforts, mindset and demeanor all got rewarded.”
In her first appearance, Macey made an immediate impact Sept. 20, pushing through a cluster of Northern Illinois University defenders on a set-piece and tying the game up on her first career goal.
Against Colorado State Sept. 22, she found the back of the net for her second game-tying goal.
“It meant a lot more than people might think,” Macey said. “It felt really good just because of everything that has been going on behind the scenes. It felt good to see all of that come around and see the full picture of all that hard work.”
For both Roeders and Macey, they said they hope the spark of offense this past weekend can carry over into the rest of the BIG EAST season.
“We have been successful the past two games now,” Roeders said. “Now we open up BIG EAST and it is a different animal. No game should be taken lightly. We are now playing for points. I hope we can use this as a stepping stone.”
Their next opponent is Providence College Oct. 3 at Valley Fields.
