The past two years at Union College have been extremely successful for the women's soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse teams. During that time, the Dutchwomen soccer squad has compiled a record of 29-8-2 and has qualified to participate in the NCAA Division III championship tournament each year. The Skating Dutchwomen, who set a team record for wins in a season during the 2001-02 campaign, reset that mark in 2002-03. While this spring's lacrosse season has been slowed by postponements due to winter weather conditions, the 2002 Dutchwomen tied the Union record for wins in a season (14), posted the best single-season winning percentage in the 27-year history of the sport (.875), and qualified for the NCAA Division III championship tournament for just the second time in the team's history.
In the last two years, the soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse teams have combined for an overall record of 65-42-5 (a winning percentage of .603), qualified for three NCAA Division III championship tournaments, earned two Eastern College Athletic Conference playoff invitations, and won a pair of Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association championships.
While there are many factors that have led to this unprecedented success, two of main players directly responsible for the above-mentioned accomplishments are twins
Elizabeth “Liz” and Margaret “Molly” Flanagan.
“They are both a tremendous asset to the program,” said sixth-year lacrosse coach Linda Bevelander.
“Not only because they are extremely talented, but they are competitive, intense, committed to achieve excellence, and they are very ethical.
“Although identical in looks, they are two different personalities.”
Fred Quistgard, who has guided Union's young ice hockey team through its first four years of varsity competition, agrees with Bevelander and points out how Liz and Molly's unique personalities were an asset to the success of this year's season.
“As is the case with all twins, there are similarities and differences,” says Quistgard.
“The chemistry that Liz and Molly display on the ice is amazing since they intuitively know where they are. Molly drives the net for shots more often, while Liz will look to set up someone else first before taking the shot. Those subtle differences in how they play open up more scoring opportunities because they can read and react to the defense so well and play to their individual strengths.
Liz was voted the Skating Dutchwomen's “Most Valuable Player” for the second consecutive season after becoming the team's first 40-point scorer. An ECAC all-rookie selection as a freshman and a member of the ECAC All-Conference second team this year, Liz found the back of the net 14 times this season, four of which came while Union was on the penalty kill. Her 26 assists led the ECAC East.
Molly, who did not play ice hockey as a freshman, had four game-winning goals among her 14 tallies. She was the team's third-leading scorer despite missing six games while starting at midfield for Union's nationally-ranked soccer team.
Fred Quistgard, who has guided Union's young ice hockey team through its first four years of varsity competition, agrees with Bevelander and points out how Liz and Molly's differing personalities were an asset to the success of this year's season.
“As is the case with all twins, there are similarities and differences,” says Quistgard.
“The chemistry that Liz and Molly display on the ice is amazing since they intuitively know where they are. Molly drives the net for shots more often, while Liz will look to set up someone else first before taking the shot. Those subtle differences in how they play open up more scoring opportunities because they can read and react to the defense so well and play to their individual strengths.
“Molly has a very quick release on her shot whereas Liz has a deceptive off-speed delivery that messes up the timing of the goalies,” continued Quistgard. “Both have “sneaky” speed where the defense does not always realize how fast they are until they have to chase them. Liz is very intense on the ice while Molly physically plays hard, but mentally is more easygoing.
“Liz came into her own as a person this past season,” Quistgard explained. “Following her standout freshman year she gained the confidence to speak up in the locker room with insightful observations that helped focus the team on the tasks at hand. Liz was more reserved her freshman year and it is nice to see her grow as a leader.
“Molly added a real spark to the team after joining us from soccer. She obviously has a natural chemistry with Liz, but she also has her own energetic personality on the ice that really gets our offense moving. Being a three-sport standout athlete is very difficult, and for Molly to keep her passion and energy alive through the long hockey season after playing for an elite Union soccer team is a testament to her leadership and dedication.”
According to their parents, Tom and Carol, Liz and Molly have followed the athletic footsteps of their older sisters, Nancy and Kate.
“From the standpoint of athletics, we have enjoyed the fact that Molly and Elizabeth have followed the paths of their two older sisters, each of whom was an accomplished athlete,” says Tom.
“Molly and Elizabeth have been fortunate to have grown up in a town that had the facilities and the parent involvement to promote sports for all ages,” says Carol. “From when they could first walk, playing on the sidelines at their older sisters' games was a normal part of their day in the fall and spring. When it was their turn, they followed along in Nan and Kate's footsteps, playing soccer and lacrosse.”
“We enjoyed following Nancy (the oldest), who was a very good soccer and lacrosse player, and then Kate, who was also a very good soccer and lacrosse player,” explained Tom. “Molly and Elizabeth were no doubt influenced by their big sisters.”
Molly, who is a two-year starter for the soccer team, scored eight goals and 19 points during her freshman campaign. Following the season she was earned All-State, All-Conference recognition and was named to the National Soccer Coaches' All-American third team.
Despite a quad injury that plagued her most of the season, Molly still impressed the UCAA coaches enough to name her to the All-Conference second team.
“Molly is a tremendous athlete who can play any where on the soccer field,” says eighth-year head coach
Brian Speck. “She has a tremendous training mentality and she loves to compete. I wish we could get her sister to play soccer.”
Also a two-year starter for the lacrosse team, Molly did not play ice hockey during her freshman season. Despite missing the first six games of the recently concluded campaign, while playing midfield for the NCAA soccer team, she showed little effects of the year's layoff as she finished third on the team in scoring with 30 points. Four of her 14 goals were game-winners.
Liz, who has been named the hockey team's “Most Valuable Player” in each of her two seasons, set a Union record with her 40 points this season. Four of her 14 goals came while the Dutchwomen were shorthanded, which led the country in that category. A top 10 finalist for the American Hockey Coaches Division III “College Player of the Year” award, Liz led the ECAC East with her 26 assists. Liz, who earned a place on the league's “All-Rookie” team following her freshman campaign, was the only Dutchwomen on the ECAC's All-Conference team this year, a second-team selection.
During the week of January 24, 2003, The USCHO (U. S. College Hockey Online), which usually honors one student-athlete with its “Offensive Player of the Week” award, shared the honor with Liz and Molly after they played key roles in sweeping New England College on the road the weekend of January 18 and 19.
Liz had five assists in the two games, three in a 4-1 win on Saturday and two in a 5-4 overtime Sunday win. Molly scored both game-winners against the Pilgrims. She found the back of the net at 13:50 of the first period – with an assist from her sister – to give Union the 2-1 lead in the 4-1 win. The next day she scored at 1:52 of overtime in the 5-4 victory.
Besides being twins, Molly and Liz have developed a strong friendship. In fact, one of the reasons that Molly decided to play hockey this year is because the time away from her sister during last year's winter recess was too long. Union's first trimester, which ends just before Thanksgiving, sends the students home until the second trimester begins in January. The winter teams, however, remain on campus until the week before Christmas.
“I hated being home alone last year when Liz was at school playing hockey,” explained Molly. “We have never been apart for more than two weeks, that's one of the main reasons I decided to play hockey this year.”
The two women thoroughly enjoy each other's company, on and off the athletic fields, but they also have their own interests and friends.
“We pretty much like the same things,” explains Molly. “We share clothes and things like that, so its great that we like the same things and like to hang out with each other's friends too.”
Liz is quick to point out some of their athletic differences.
“In hockey I am left handed and she is right handed, just like when I played soccer I was right footed and she is left footed,” she explains. “Although both of us play both ends in lacrosse, I would say that Molly is more offense and I am more defense. I am also more of a passer, while she is a scorer, which would explain why so many of her goals come from my assists.”
Molly's first season of college lacrosse was a record-setting one as she not only led the team in scoring, her 62 goals broke Union's single-season record of 53 set in 1999. Her 76 points earned her the UCAA's “Rookie of the Year” award and helped put her on the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association's All-American
third team. Liz, who finished fourth on the team in scoring with 28 points, was among the team leaders with her 16 assists.
“They have grown a lot as individuals and as team players over the last year,” says Bevelander. “Words that come to mind when I think of them are: tenacious, aggressive, passionate, heart and soul into everything, leaders. They raise the level of intensity and competitiveness of the program.
“Liz is an excellent defender who sees the field and has a tremendous gift to read and anticipate the play,” Bevelander continued. “She is intense and has the desire to be the best that she can. Liz will never let down or give up on anything. She will play, and can play, anywhere on the field. She has wonderful insight as to what is going on out there and has the ability to push her teammates to “step it up” or get to where they need to be. Liz speaks with confidence and enthusiasm.
“Liz and Molly have different expressions. Molly usually has this stoic look on her face but you can always tell by her body language that she is definitely going to get the ball back or put it in the net with a vengeance. Liz is an aggressive, intense, determined, passionate and competitive player. She has great insight into the game. She sees things on the field and is able to process what is going on and is a very talented problem solver. Liz has the ability to see the entire picture. She is very pensive and really thinks things out.
“They are both a tremendous asset to the program.”
The Simsbury, Connecticut, natives both attended Loomis Chaffee. Liz, an English and sociology major, and Molly, a civil engineering major who has an interest in an art minor, decided to come to Union because the College met both their needs, academically and athletically.
“We chose Union because it was close to home and both the soccer and lacrosse teams are very competitive,” explained Molly. “Union also offered both engineering and English programs for each of us. Mike (sophomore cousin Mike Flanagan, who plays football and baseball) also wanted to go to Union and we thought that would be fun and that we would have family in Albany.”
Their parents, who attend as many games as they possibly can, are glad their daughters selected Union as their home for the next four years and are convinced that Liz and Molly made the right decision.
“I don't think either one of them would want to be at a school that forced them to specialize in one sport or another,” says their mom, Carol. “They have had some truly great coaches who have shown by example that playing sports teaches much more than how to win. But win, those teams did. Neither one of them likes to talk about the game or herself as a player– they just like to play.
“The mental toughness and quickness they have gotten from sports, they apply to all sorts of situations,” Carol continued. “Coaches cannot resist analyzing how their relationship affects their playing, and we do believe that there is some unspoken communication on the field or ice that other players could practice year round and not achieve. But, of course, Elizabeth and Molly have been at it a lifetime.”
Liz and Molly shared the “Terri Lynch-Jackie Havercamp Memorial Award” as Union's “Outstanding Female Athlete who has shown desire, dedication, sportsmanship, and inspirational leadership on the field of competition as well as in her daily life.” It was the first time in the 22-year history of the award that it was split.
“We have had a lot of fun with the twin thing, right from the beginning,” explains their father, Tom. “Having our own identical twins exposed us to many of the things which people find fascinating about twins, and also to some of the potential difficulties of having twins, particularly when they are involved in many of the same activities.
“I am not sure that I could articulate the essence of the relationship that Molly and Elizabeth have, athletic and otherwise,” he continued. “But Carol and I love the fact that they have done so many things together, that they decided to go to college together, and that they have had the chance to continue to play together.
“Clearly they work well together in hockey and lacrosse,” Tom continued. “I guess part of it has to do with their complementary styles and thinking, and I think they genuinely like playing together.
“Having them chosen as co-winners of the “Female Freshman Athlete of the Year” award was not just the highlight of their first year, it was the perfect result for parents of twins and was more than any of us ever expected. Carol and I are thrilled that they are at Union, and have so far been able to combine so many elements of college life, including academics, with their athletic participation.”