They have the same first name.
They have the same middle name.
They play the same position in the same sport.
And John Stark girls’ soccer coach Chris Pike has gotten a better look than most at one of the more unique connections two players can have.
Megan Marie Rousseau and Meghan Marie Mefford highlight the front line of the Generals’ attack. They’re playing their senior seasons together in a sport they’ve played since they were 6 years old.
“When they first showed up, the link that they had, they didn’t even look up when they were distributing balls,” Pike remembered from their first year at varsity tryouts. “They just expected the other person to be there for that back-post run or the cross, and they were always there.”
Their skill on the soccer field is apparent, Rousseau with her elite speed and quickness, Mefford with her deft patience and accuracy. As of Friday, Mefford has five goals and three assists; Rousseau has two goals and two assists.
That’s helped John Stark to a 6-5-0 record this season with five games left to play. Last year, the Generals reached the Division II semifinals, where they lost, 6-0, to Pembroke.
But for Pike, the athleticism Rousseau and Mefford share only scratches the surface of the Megan-Meghan connection and what it’s meant to John Stark soccer.
“They’re amazing players. They’re amazing students. They’re amazing people,” he said while his team warmed up for a late-September practice.
“They truly represent what we want in regards to role models across the school and across the sports.”
September 1, 2021.
It’s pouring rain.
John Stark and Hollis-Brookline are tied, 2-2, in double overtime. The Generals scored two goals in the final nine minutes of regulation to tie the game. Then late in the second overtime, Mefford sends a pass to Rousseau, who buries the game-winner.
The Generals win, 3-2, the Megan-Meghan connection accounting for the decisive goal.
“We’ve been playing together for so long, we’ve developed to know where we’re gonna cross it,” Mefford said. “I don’t even have to call for the ball. It’s kinda like we know where each other are all the time.”
It all began in 2011 when they played for Rousseau’s dad. Then in middle school, they both started playing wing. That’s when their bond really solidified, they said.
The success has come at a welcome time for John Stark. Since Pike took over the head coaching duties six years ago, this is the first year they’ve had enough girls for both varsity and junior varsity teams. That focus on not just building a good team but developing a strong program has allowed Rousseau and Mefford to spread their impact even further.
“We’re in a small community,” Rousseau said. “So I think it’s good to reach out to the underclassmen and just help around the community.”
After a late-September game against Keene, Mefford stuck around to watch the JV team play, while getting some homework done – always a challenge for a high school athlete. That might seem like a small gesture, but it speaks volumes to younger players in the program.
“I feel as though the younger girls have that connection with them to come to them for anything, not just soccer,” Pike said. “They can come to these two seniors and ask them whatever they need to about school and just life in general.”
With only about a month left in their high school soccer careers, Rousseau and Mefford have begun reflecting on soccer journeys that have become increasingly intertwined through the years – so much so that, to this day, people still mix them up.
“They call me ‘Meffy’ a lot,” Rousseau said. “I don’t know why they wouldn’t just say our first names since you can’t mix that up. They mix up spellings a lot, too, because she has the H, and I don’t.”
Added Mefford: “Our teammates always try to make fun of us, like, call out our name, see who turns around.”
Both girls’ moms, Lorie Mefford and Tracy Rousseau, have been there the entire time. Tracy always has her camera ready at games, and she’s taken thousands of pictures of the Megan-Meghan duo through the years.
“It’s not about who scores the goal; the person who has the assist is just as excited and just as proud as the one who scored the goal,” Tracy Rousseau said. “It’s such an equal thing, because they know that they work together to make it happen.”
Heading down the stretch of the season, Pike said he’s eager to watch their telepathic connection continue. He knows the team has something to prove this season, especially after John Stark’s narrow 2-0 loss to Bow, a perennial D-II powerhouse.
Stark trailed almost immediately after allowing a Falcon goal in the third minute. But the Generals, partially driven from opportunities generated by Rousseau and Mefford, kept the pressure on.
“In a way, this was the best game that they could’ve ever had, because this shows them what they’re truly capable of,” Pike said of his team after the loss on Sept. 30. “If we go into every game like this and finish every game like this, we’re really gonna be racking some wins up. They gotta keep this momentum going.”
And if they do keep the momentum going, the Megan-Meghan connection will surely be right in the middle of it.