Ashley Guardado (12) and Kayla Klipsch (12) have been playing soccer on the same team since they were in kindergarten.

The duo started on a co-ed Catholic Youth Council (CYC) team until eighth grade, continuing to Club Ball and select teams all the way up to high school. Traveling the country with their select team brought them closer as teammates and friends.

“We are there for each other no matter what,” Klipsch said. “If we had a bad game, we would talk about it and keep each other positive.”

Since freshman year, Guardado and Klipsch managed to stay inseparable, making the OHS varsity soccer team all four years.

“Being together since we were that young builds this big competition between us,” Klipsch said. “It’s always a fight to see who can run faster or score the most goals or do the coolest move.”

Earlier in the season, Klipsch was out for three and half weeks with a collarbone injury and returned midway through the season. Going into the district tournament, OHS was 13-6-1. Guardado is the team’s top scorer with 10 goals and six assists.

“These two are one of a kind. It is not so much on the field that makes them such amazing teammates for one another, but the presence they bring off the field,” Coach Sarah Guenther said. “Each of them has their strengths and they play them off of each other well.”

Guardado and Klipsch will continue their journey with soccer at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) in the fall. Guardado committed her sophomore year, Klipsch her junior year.

“I loved the school and I knew I wanted to go there from the very beginning,” Guardado said. “I hope that when we are in college that we stay really close and keep a good relationship, as well as stay successful on and off the field.”

With the chemistry that the girls have built over the years, they are preparing for their upcoming college career.

“Their unique relationship will help them be successful as they finish their high school career and also into their college careers,” Guenther said. “It has been an honor having them as students and as players over the years. They truly are one of a kind!”