Not many people can say they were discovered on Sheridan Road.

But that’s exactly where lacrosse coach Kelly Amonte Hiller first approached sisters Ashley and Courtney Koester about joining her team.

The Koesters, who are identical twins, were out for a routine jog when Amonte Hiller pulled up in her car and asked them to play a sport they’d never played.

“She asked, ‘Would you ever think about playing lacrosse?’ and we just kind of laughed,” Courtney said. “We’d never seen the sport before.”

Amonte Hiller was starting the lacrosse team after its eight-year absence from NU, and she was short a few players on the roster. She had seen the 5’3″ Koesters on their jogs and in a few of their flag football matches, noting what she called their “extreme athleticism.”

The sisters, from Richmond, Ind., said no at first. But when Amonte Hiller sent them an e-mail about her own college lacrosse experience, the Koesters reconsidered. Amonte Hiller convinced them to take home a lacrosse stick over Thanksgiving Break, and the two were hooked.

“As soon as we started playing, we were like, ‘Yeah, this could be fun,'” Ashley said.

Despite their roommates’ teasing for never having played the sport, the Koesters joined the team for its inaugural season.

And have played every game since.

The Koesters, who are two of only three seniors on the team, have played every game in the Wildcats’ three seasons of existence. They have seen NU quickly transform from a 5-10 subpar squad to an attention-grabbing top 10 team with a 14-1 record.

The twins will return next season, as NCAA athletes are eligible for four years of play in any single sport.

Courtney will use the extra year to take classes and add an economics major to her computer engineering degree, and Ashley will do student teaching for her secondary education major.

“Our mentality is we don’t want to grow up,” Ashley said. “We’re happy to not have to face the real world for another year.”

The first season was a challenge for the Koester sisters. But they drew from their athletic experiences and instincts from high school soccer, basketball and track. Amonte Hiller spent extra time with them on stick work and understanding the sport’s rules.

“Always from the beginning, we tried to bring the intensity and the heart,” Ashley said. “And Kelly helped us with the skills.”

Today the Koester sisters are arguably the team’s most valuable players. They are the core of the NU defense, which is ranked seventh in the nation.

The “Koester double team,” as fellow defender Kristen Boege calls it, consistently shuts down opponents’ top scorers, and last week, the sisters split the American League Conference’s honor for Player of the Week.

“I view them as two of the top defenders in the country,” Amonte Hiller said.

Courtney, a karaoke fan, specializes in draw controls and is third in the ALC in draws. Ashley, a huge music fan that teaches guitar to her teammates, is a solid defensive powerhouse. In games, fans can see the pigtailed Koester duo dashing all over the field.

“The two of them could be the equivalent of eight people, they’re swarming,” freshman Donna McCann said. “They’re like two little knats, like everywhere.”

Teammates can’t say enough about the Koester sisters.

“Basically, if I could be anyone in the world, I would want to be a Koester,” said Boege.

Their tough work ethic sets an example for the Cats, teammates said. The Koesters put in extra work by themselves or with a coach a few times a week.

“They speak to that saying that Midwesterners are great people,” Amonte Hiller said. “They are caring, responsible, bright, giggly, and goofy — they have the whole package.”

So their teammates describe the Koesters as a pair. But how do they tell the two apart?

“Courtney wears her watch on her right wrist, and Ashley wears hers on the left wrist,” Boege said.

The “twin thing” gives them an advantage on the field, the sisters said. They can feel each other’s field positions, communicate, and count on each other for support.

And they insist they don’t fight too often on or off the field, despite living together in a house with seven other women.

“There are time when we yell at each other,” Courtney said. “But I think it’s because we know how good we can be.”