Carly Niness might have some inside information on one of Wake Forest's best players.
Niness played with Jill Hutchinson, leading goal scorer for the Demon Deacons the past two seasons, at Conestoga High School in Tredyffrin Township. The two also played together on a summer team, so Niness is very familiar with Hutchinson's game.
Lions' coach Erica Walsh insisted she hadn't solicited secrets out of Niness. If nothing else, this weekend's game will give Niness an opportunity to catch up with Hutchinson, the Pennsylvania Player of the Year in 2005.
"It'll be cool to hang out and catch up on old times," Niness said. "But I don't think it'll change anything. Even though she's your friend, you're still going to play the same."
Niness is one of four Nittany Lions who have a connection to a player on No. 8 Wake Forest or Boston University. The No. 24-ranked Lions will travel to Storrs, Conn., this weekend for the UConn Classic to face the Demon Deacons at 5 tonight and the Terriers at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday at Joseph J. Marrone Stadium.
Lion freshman Jackie Molinda played with Terrier freshman Carly Lewandowski at Mount Lebanon High School and trained at the same facility in the summer. Freshman Tani Costa played against Terrier freshman Mari Carmichael growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii and one of freshman Christine Nairn's best friends is Wake Forest's Chelsea Allen.
Nairn said Allen had sent her a text message earlier in the week, talking some smack about the Lions and how the Demon Deacons would prevail.
The two met when they were 6 or 7 years old, watching their brothers play on the same club soccer team, Nairn said. They kicked the ball back and forth while watching their brothers' games.
Eleven years later, the duo won the U.S. Soccer Championship with the Freestate Shooters U-18 team.
"We would carpool together to school and everything," Nairn said. "We live about 15 minutes from each other. It'll cool to see her because I haven't seen her in like six months."
Costa and Carmichael played on the same club teams and alternated driving the 45-minute commute to team practice everyday, Costa said.
Whenever the two faced off, however, the Hawaiian natives were all about competition.
"We were the biggest enemies on the field," Costa said. "But then off the field we would love each other. It definitely will be cool to see her. Hopefully we'll win though."
Molinda and Lewandowski were pretty much inseparable as youngsters, Molinda said. They played travel soccer together as 12-year-olds and were good friends in middle school, she said.
When the season started, the Pittsburgh natives talked about how much they were looking forward to playing against each other. Molinda saw her first collegiate action in last weekend's game and may play apart in earning a victory against her rival, the same feeling Niness will have in the Lions' first game against Wake Forest.
'She's really good on the ball and she's got a really good shot," Niness said of Wake Forest's Hutchinson. "She always works really hard on top and her touch is always on. Hopefully we come out on top."
