SE: Meet the Sisters Behind K-State Soccer’s Newest Strike Partnership
Aug 26, 2021 | Soccer, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
There's this look Maddie Weichel and Marisa Weichel give each other, about a half second before answering each question, just to make sure they're on the same page.
Any moments you still remember from playing high school soccer together?
Marisa: "This is awesome, actually."
Maddie: "I know exactly what you're going to say."
Marisa: "She was going to break the assist record for our school and a couple games had gone by and she was starting to get mad whenever I hit one over the bar. Then she had this really good cross and I finished it to help her break the record."
Maddie: "That was so fun."
It's a kind of anticipation you can't teach, a shared understanding between the Weichel sisters whether in a post-practice interview or before a cross into the box.
Thing is, the Weichels are always on the same page. And finally, back on the same team.
Maddie arrived in Manhattan as a freshman in 2020, quickly emerging as one of the most exciting young players on the Wildcats. She played in all 14 matches for K-State, finishing second on the team in points.
That same year, Marisa was beginning her sophomore season at Texas Tech.
Going through the recruiting process, both sisters were able to lean on each other, even as it became clear they were headed to different destinations.
"I committed to Texas Tech my freshman year of high school," Marisa Weichel said. "I think that paved the way for her to see that you really need to visit all of your options to know you're making the best decision."
Maddie: "And I was able to visit her at Tech and see what it was like."
At that point, K-State Soccer wasn't even in the Big 12, and the school wasn't on Marisa's radar until the Wildcats started to recruit her younger sister. She might not have been familiar with K-State, but she was able to give Maddie an idea of what to look for in a soccer program.
"Go somewhere that's all about you," Marisa Weichel said. "You want to feel loved and that's what our dad always says…"
Maddie: "You want to feel the love."
Marisa: "So when she said that's how she felt about K-State, I was like, 'You need to go there.' We're really close so I just wanted wherever she was going to make her happy."
In 2018, the Weichels were captains together at Papillion-La Vista High School in Omaha, leading the Monarchs to the state tournament for just the second time in school history.
Their next time on the field together, when K-State played Texas Tech, was supposed to be the highlight of the 2020 season. There was just one problem. The schools were scheduled to open the season in Manhattan, but that match got pushed back due to COVID-19 protocols.
And when the game finally arrived in November, Marisa wasn't in the Texas Tech lineup. Or on the sideline. Or even at the stadium.
She was back home, stuck in COVID-19 quarantine with the rest of their family. That's where Marisa saw K-State take a 1-0 lead with her sister coming off the bench.
And, in the 62nd minute, that's where she watched Maddie make a trailing run into the box and beat the keeper for the first goal of her college career.
It was all on TV in the basement of their home in Omaha - not exactly how they planned it - but a connection to another important moment in the Weichel's soccer saga.
Flash back to 2019 and Maddie was a senior at Papillion-La Vista, while Marisa was kicking off her freshman season at Texas Tech with a game against San Diego State.
"My parents were watching it and she wasn't playing much, so I was kind of watching, but I wandered in from the basement because our mom was freaking out," Maddie Weichel said.
Marisa: "They were like 'Marisa went in!' and I think she was just walking up the stairs."
Maddie: "And then they were like, 'Get up here, she just scored a goal!' and I didn't know what just happened."
So, that's how Maddie found out her older sister had scored on her very first touch in her very first appearance with Texas Tech, just seconds after coming into the game.
The only way to top that moment came on Sunday afternoon at Buser Family Park.
When Marisa entered the transfer portal after her sophomore season at Texas Tech, she was nervous about how COVID-19 might impact the recruiting process.
Joining her sister at K-State had always been something she and Maddie had joked about. But once Marisa was cleared to transfer within the Big 12, that suddenly became a reality.
Marisa: "My first call was to Coach Dibbini on my very first day in the transfer portal and I committed later that day. I didn't have to look anywhere else because she loved it here."
Maddie: "I knew this would be a good fit for her, close to home, with our coaches and a style of play that would get her involved."
Maddie Weichel and Marisa Weichel are one of three different pairs of sisters on K-State Soccer in 2021, alongside Peyton Pearson & Presli Pearson and Kenzi Gillispie & Keila Gillispie.
But only Maddie and Marisa started next to each other in K-State's first two games of 2021.
In the 7th minute of Sunday's match against Omaha, Marisa Weichel was in the box before a K-State corner kick.
The ball pinged around, before she got a touch on it and knocked home the first goal of her Wildcat career.
Starting and scoring alongside your sister? That's been a different kind of special.
Marisa: "The first game we both started, I was tearing up. I was like, 'This is not happening.' I could see our parents in the stands zooming in with their phone and taking pictures."
Maddie: "Especially because we were standing right next to each other."
Marisa: "Seriously, like who gets to do that?"
There's this look Maddie Weichel and Marisa Weichel give each other, about a half second before answering each question, just to make sure they're on the same page.
Any moments you still remember from playing high school soccer together?
Marisa: "This is awesome, actually."
Maddie: "I know exactly what you're going to say."
Marisa: "She was going to break the assist record for our school and a couple games had gone by and she was starting to get mad whenever I hit one over the bar. Then she had this really good cross and I finished it to help her break the record."
Maddie: "That was so fun."
It's a kind of anticipation you can't teach, a shared understanding between the Weichel sisters whether in a post-practice interview or before a cross into the box.
Thing is, the Weichels are always on the same page. And finally, back on the same team.
Maddie arrived in Manhattan as a freshman in 2020, quickly emerging as one of the most exciting young players on the Wildcats. She played in all 14 matches for K-State, finishing second on the team in points.
Baxter ➡️ Goins ➡️ @MaddieWeichel = GOAL #KStateSOC x #OnTheRise2020 pic.twitter.com/VHea10Rh8l
— K-State Soccer (@KStateSOC) November 14, 2020
That same year, Marisa was beginning her sophomore season at Texas Tech.
Going through the recruiting process, both sisters were able to lean on each other, even as it became clear they were headed to different destinations.
"I committed to Texas Tech my freshman year of high school," Marisa Weichel said. "I think that paved the way for her to see that you really need to visit all of your options to know you're making the best decision."
Maddie: "And I was able to visit her at Tech and see what it was like."
At that point, K-State Soccer wasn't even in the Big 12, and the school wasn't on Marisa's radar until the Wildcats started to recruit her younger sister. She might not have been familiar with K-State, but she was able to give Maddie an idea of what to look for in a soccer program.
"Go somewhere that's all about you," Marisa Weichel said. "You want to feel loved and that's what our dad always says…"
Maddie: "You want to feel the love."
Marisa: "So when she said that's how she felt about K-State, I was like, 'You need to go there.' We're really close so I just wanted wherever she was going to make her happy."
In 2018, the Weichels were captains together at Papillion-La Vista High School in Omaha, leading the Monarchs to the state tournament for just the second time in school history.
Their next time on the field together, when K-State played Texas Tech, was supposed to be the highlight of the 2020 season. There was just one problem. The schools were scheduled to open the season in Manhattan, but that match got pushed back due to COVID-19 protocols.
And when the game finally arrived in November, Marisa wasn't in the Texas Tech lineup. Or on the sideline. Or even at the stadium.
She was back home, stuck in COVID-19 quarantine with the rest of their family. That's where Marisa saw K-State take a 1-0 lead with her sister coming off the bench.
And, in the 62nd minute, that's where she watched Maddie make a trailing run into the box and beat the keeper for the first goal of her college career.
It was all on TV in the basement of their home in Omaha - not exactly how they planned it - but a connection to another important moment in the Weichel's soccer saga.
Flash back to 2019 and Maddie was a senior at Papillion-La Vista, while Marisa was kicking off her freshman season at Texas Tech with a game against San Diego State.
"My parents were watching it and she wasn't playing much, so I was kind of watching, but I wandered in from the basement because our mom was freaking out," Maddie Weichel said.
Marisa: "They were like 'Marisa went in!' and I think she was just walking up the stairs."
Maddie: "And then they were like, 'Get up here, she just scored a goal!' and I didn't know what just happened."
So, that's how Maddie found out her older sister had scored on her very first touch in her very first appearance with Texas Tech, just seconds after coming into the game.
The only way to top that moment came on Sunday afternoon at Buser Family Park.
When Marisa entered the transfer portal after her sophomore season at Texas Tech, she was nervous about how COVID-19 might impact the recruiting process.
Joining her sister at K-State had always been something she and Maddie had joked about. But once Marisa was cleared to transfer within the Big 12, that suddenly became a reality.
Marisa: "My first call was to Coach Dibbini on my very first day in the transfer portal and I committed later that day. I didn't have to look anywhere else because she loved it here."
Maddie: "I knew this would be a good fit for her, close to home, with our coaches and a style of play that would get her involved."
Maddie Weichel and Marisa Weichel are one of three different pairs of sisters on K-State Soccer in 2021, alongside Peyton Pearson & Presli Pearson and Kenzi Gillispie & Keila Gillispie.
But only Maddie and Marisa started next to each other in K-State's first two games of 2021.
In the 7th minute of Sunday's match against Omaha, Marisa Weichel was in the box before a K-State corner kick.
The ball pinged around, before she got a touch on it and knocked home the first goal of her Wildcat career.
Ready. Set. Goal. @MarisaWeichel putting K-State up early! #KStateSOC x #RiseWithUS21 pic.twitter.com/a3F8YBIVk8
— K-State Soccer (@KStateSOC) August 22, 2021
Starting and scoring alongside your sister? That's been a different kind of special.
Marisa: "The first game we both started, I was tearing up. I was like, 'This is not happening.' I could see our parents in the stands zooming in with their phone and taking pictures."
Maddie: "Especially because we were standing right next to each other."
Marisa: "Seriously, like who gets to do that?"
Players Mentioned
M/D
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
M/F
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
F
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