It’s not often that you see twins attending the same school — let alone playing the same sport at the Division I level — but that is the case with defender Siri Hodgins and midfielder Leah Hodgins, junior twins on the Boston University women’s lacrosse team.
“Our mom played lacrosse in college… and from around third grade, all of us [Siri and her siblings] started,” Siri said. “So when it was our turn, we picked it up, and we just liked it. And we’ve been playing ever since.”
Despite being twins, Siri and Leah aren’t the same in everything.
On top of lacrosse, the Hodgins sisters spent time swimming and diving, but they took to other sports in very different ways.
“I took swimming [and] diving very seriously,” Leah said. “It didn’t matter that lacrosse is my main sport, I still wanted to succeed and excel in both of those.”
Leah said Siri did swim and dive recreationally, “more for activity.”
However, when it came to lacrosse, both Hodgins sisters gave it their all.
“We’ve been multiple sport athletes all throughout high school, and lacrosse is kind of always the thing that we came back to,” Leah said.
By the time they were seniors at Chanhassen High School in Minnesota, they were playing on the No. 1 ranked team in the state.
That season, Siri, Leah and their teammates on The Storm made it all the way to the State Championship for the first time in program history after losing only one game through the entire season.
The Storm would go on to lose the final, but the twins look back on it fondly.
“[It] was really fun to see all of our hard work put together [on] the highest stage that we had known that far in the championship,” Siri said. “We both played the same position at that time, so we were doing the same things on the field, and having her with me as a support was just awesome.”
Siri and Leah supported The Storm’s efforts that season with 36 and 54 goals respectively, and were also being scouted to play lacrosse in college.
“When we went through college recruiting, we were reached out by a lot of the same schools,” Siri said. “Naturally, they wanted both of us, and we played different positions, defense and attack, so it was nice that you get the two-for-one.”
The twins were eventually recruited to play at BU, both sisters’ “number one choice” Siri said.
Head coach Lauren Morton appreciates what the sisters’ dynamic has brought to the team’s training sessions.
“It’s been really fun to have them on the team. We’ve had sisters before, but I think twins are definitely really special,” Morton said. “You definitely can tell when they go up against one another, whether it’s in ground ball drills or 1v1, just the kind of intensity and the competitiveness that they have.”
It’s not all competition, either.
“They’re definitely great about pushing one another, but they’re also great about supporting one another,” Morton said. “It has really been special, even for our team, to see.”
Siri and Leah feel a special connection while playing, whether it comes down to being twins or being teammates for 12 years.
“I know what kind of passes [Siri is] gonna throw me,” Leah said. “I can tell by the look in her eyes she doesn’t want me to get in her way if she’s gonna run the ball down the field.”
This season, the Terriers are off to a solid start, going 4-2 in their first six games as they look for a turnaround from 2024’s last-place finish.
This is happening as the Hodgins twins emerge as leaders on the team, Morton saying, “It’s been exciting to see them in their junior year continue to take a step forward and really impact our team.”
