Senior defender Megan Mack didn't have to look very far to lock eyes with Lockport.
Before taking the all-important penalty kick, Mac got in touch with a familiar figure on the team since he started playing soccer: midfielder and identical twin sister Abby.
“We've been playing together all our lives,” Meghan said after the Porters' celebration. She said, “We definitely push each other. We're always competitive by nature and we have that chemistry.
“We know where and how to play.”
After regulation ended in a 1-1 tie on Saturday, Meghan was the opening shooter in a thrilling 5-4 penalty shootout victory over Lincoln-Way East that started a perfect run for the host Porters.
By defeating the Griffins for the second time this season, Lockport (21-0, 4-0) remained the only undefeated team in the state and maintained first place in the Southwest Suburban Blue.
Senior defender Emma Czech scored in regulation and also converted the deciding penalty.
Interestingly, another twin duo forced extra time and scored in the 70th minute, resulting in a shootout. Senior midfielder Bre Herlihy converted for the Griffins (12-5-1, 3-1) with a header off a free kick by his twin sister, Emily, a senior defender.
Meanwhile, Megan Mack showed nerves of steel starting a shootout with her right foot.
“It’s a mindset,” she said. “I had to have confidence in myself and make sure I nailed the first one. When you start thinking about it, you miss it.”
Meghan, an outside back and team captain, has five goals and three assists this season. Abby is also back in the lineup, playing on a minutes restriction after injuring his ankle in March.
“We have almost tacit communication and we know where the other person is going, so that gives us an advantage,” Abby said.
Moving between central midfielder and outside midfielder, Abby scored one goal. Last year as a junior, Meghan had nine goals and 11 assists, while Abby added eight goals and nine assists.
The twins were born four minutes apart, with Abby being the older child.
Their futures are also connected, with them committing to play at Cumberlands, an NAIA program in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Their innate connection only deepens over time.
“The Mack twins are the closest brothers I've ever met,” Lockport coach Todd Elkay said. “They are rarely separated. When either is asked a question, they answer each other, and the answer is usually correct.
“They know 100% what the other person is thinking.”
Elkay said Abbey is now slightly taller than Meghan. Previously, the only way to identify them was by looking at their different colored headbands.
Senior defender Brinley McNabb, who is a team captain with Meghan, has been playing with the twins since they were four years old. She admitted that words were unnecessary between them.
“They have this twin trait of communicating without talking,” McNabb said. “Their passing ability is really good.
“Their personalities are quite similar, but their playing styles are different, with Meghan being more aggressive and Abby being more calm. We're really lucky to have them as teammates.”
Abby believes their shared passion for soccer was inevitable.
“I think when you grow up in the same environment and experience a lot of the same things, you start to like them,” she said. “It's interesting because if you find something you like, you share it with Meghan and she likes the same thing.
“We have something in common: common interests.”
Unsurprisingly, they both have the same reaction when it comes to the best part about being twins.
“It's about having a best friend in your heart,” Meghan said.
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.