GCSU soccer a Sister Act times 3
Published 6:00 pm Saturday, November 2, 2024
- ThesisteroftheBobcatsoccerclub.FromleftareLilyandChloeMarkey,AliAmrozowicz,KatePhillips,MorganAmrozowicz,GracePhillipsandGeorgiaCollege&StateUniversitywomen’ssoccercoachJackMarchant.
On the Georgia College & State University women’s soccer roster for 2024, six players represent three families. That’s the Sisters Phillips, the Markey Twins, and the pair of Amrozowicz.
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Only one is planning to return for the 2025 season (five will be among the 16 recognized on Senior Day Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Bobcat Field).
One thing all three pairs have in common: There is another younger sibling out there playing the sport of soccer, perhaps all better than the ones going to school in Milledgeville. Or so they say.
As the fall season and five of the six playing careers wind down, it’s a good time to reflect on life together in a sport they love plus looking ahead to new future paths made possible by the academic opportunities made possible in part by college athletics.
The Phillips’ are graduate student Grace and sophomore Kate, both from McDonough and Union Grove High School. Grace spent all five years of college soccer as a Bobcat playing the midfield. She only played in two matches as a true freshman in 2020 and only in three matches of the 2022 season, but has 15 starts and 33 games the past two seasons. A big moment occurred on Oct. 26 in a win at South Carolina-Aiken, her first career goal. She also has two assists this season.
Kate is a sophomore transfer from fellow Peach Belt Conference member Columbus State, where she played only one season after graduating high school in the spring of 2023. She played in six matches for Columbus, two against Georgia College for a total of 94 minutes. Kate has eight matches so far as a Bobcat, still looking for that first career point, though her primary position is on defense.
The Phillips family actually has three girls and one boy, Grace being one of two twins. The other twin is Faith Phillips, who is also a fifth-year senior at Georgia Southern. She has four career goals playing forward.
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“It was always fun growing up having siblings near you in the same age range,” said Kate. “I remember growing up and always going to their games, having fun and traveling with my mom to go wherever they play.”
The three sisters were able to play on the same team finally at Union Grove when the twins were seniors and Kate was a freshman. Faith suffered an ACL tear and the COVID-19 pandemic hit to end that season abruptly.
Kate decided to join Grace at Georgia College last spring. She said she could see with the Bobcats it was a family environment and a better community, and she wanted to play for head coach Jack Marchant.
“It was a better fit for me,” said Kate.
“I do like the whole family aspect of it,” said Grace. “You can go anywhere and talk to anyone and feel welcome. I like the academic side of it, too. I got my undergraduate in marketing and am completing my masters in management information systems. It’s been a good balance.”
Though she just scored a goal, Grace said her favorite Bobcat moment was beating Catawba on almost the same date in 2023 2-1. Catawba was No. 1 in Division II at the time.
When soccer is over, Grace wants to “find a job.” Kate is a psychology major with a minor in biology and wants to study animals. She has one dog, Daisy.
The Markeys are Chloe and Lily, not identical twins as there is an obvious height difference. But like most twins they stuck together from Alpharetta and Johns Creek High School. They first went to college at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Markeys make the biggest contributions to Bobcat soccer on the defensive side. For GCSU, they have a combined 65 games, 45 starts, more than 4,000 minutes, but nary a goal nor an assist between them. Still, Marchant probably wonders how he will shut an opponent out without them.
They began playing at the age of 4, sometimes together, sometimes on separate teams when it came to club soccer. It was in high school where they really came together for full seasons on the same team practicing together constantly. No matter what their uniforms looked like, it was always going back to the same home. When they went to Bellarmine, they opted to not be roommates anymore, looking to branch out some on their own.
But they locked arms one more time to transfer to Milledgeville and become Georgia College Bobcats.
“Our senior year … we played with our little sister as well,” said Lily. “That was really cool. That year, we ended up winning the state championship, all three of us together. It was really great to have that experience. I remember at the end of the game, everybody went running into the huddle, then all three of us went running our separate way to hug each other and celebrate. It was awesome.”
That ‘little sister’ is Kate Markey, a freshman forward at Wofford, and she leads her soccer team in assists with five in 19 matches.
Chloe said they played “all over the place” in terms of positions growing up. Lily said they both like the grind involved in defending. They are especially happy with the decision to join GCSU/.
“We weren’t too happy at our old school,” said Chloe. “We’re closer to home (now). We love the team, coach, everything.”
“We didn’t really get to play on the field too much together at our old school,” said Lily. “Here, we’ve gotten a lot of minutes together.”
The Markeys entered college both planning to study exercise science, but Chole changed her mind and is majoring in economics. She’s not sure now what specific direction she wants to go in that field. Lily plans to attend physical therapy school either in Georgia or Florida.
“It’s been our life,” said Lily about soccer and how hard it will be to see it end as players. “The one thing that’s been consistent with all three of us, bonding us all together. It’s going to be sad when it goes away.”
“Sure going to miss it,” said Chole.
The story of the Amrozowicz sisters is interesting in that Ali is the oldest one but has been at GCSU only for the 2024 season. Morgan came straight out of their alma mater, Mill Creek High School, in 2021 and has played in almost all possible matches. She’s played 67 matches, started 44 (none as a freshman) and has 10 goals and seven assists.
Ali has five goals and three assists in 2024 for GCSU. She originally played for Mercer University in the 2021 season, but only got into three matches.
Morgan scored twice in the GCSU win at Aiken on Oct. 26. On Oct. 5, Ali had her headline moment with three goals in a win over Christian Brothers.
They are from Dacula, and Ali felt like a leader as the eldest in the household as soccer was a new venture for them. She called herself a “guinea pig” with Morgan following her lead. They went from one club team to another, which led to recruiting interest from college programs.
“It was kind of crazy for a while,” said Ali. “But we’re here together, so it’s paid off.”
Morgan wanted to ‘piggy-back’ off that, saying she’s more ‘go-with-the-flow’ as a middle child.
“I did go wherever she did,” said Morgan. “We got into soccer because our aunt was a coach. We were thrown into it at a very young age, which is great. We’ve had our rough patches as siblings. We had to share a room at one point.”
“Always been competitive,” said Ali. She didn’t play for two years after that first one at Mercer, and finally gave in after constant barraging from both Morgan and Marchant to play for the Bobcats.
“It took a while. She should have been here sooner,” said Morgan. “But I get it. It was a lot of mental battles and physical battles with her injuries.”
Ali tore an ACL at the end of her senior year at Mill Creek. She said it was a two-year process to get back in playing shape, and by being ‘mentally drained,’ she medically retired from soccer. Ali transferred to GCSU to be only a student a year and a half ago. At some point she decided to give playing one more shot.
But even with eligibility left, Ali is calling it quits after this season. The sisters are already feeling sad about the final home match. Morgan feels at times like she just finished high school and had that Senior Day.
“It’s been a great four years,” said Morgan. “I wouldn’t have changed my decision to come here.”
“Mine might be a little more emotional,” said Ali. “I never got to experience graduation in high school (COVID). I decided to come back to soccer, so I finally get the ending I wanted. No one else got to write that ending for me. Happy tears.”
Ali and Morgan have a younger brother still in high school but does play soccer, too. It’s hard for them to debate who is better since many feel they all play different styles of games.
Ali will graduate in December and is looking at a job in Atlanta in marketing and communications. Morgan is in exercise science and plans on graduating in 2025. From there, she – like Lily Markey – plans to attend physical therapy school.