From chasing the ball across their backyard in Massachusetts to shining on the pitch with the Saint Francis Lancers, Charlotte and Layne Kohler have always chased big dreams together. This weekend, those dreams carry both sisters all the way to the Final Four.

Layne has been a constant force in the UChicago back line over the past four seasons, and her leadership and voice on the field have made a major impact for the entire UChicago women's soccer program. Despite appearing in just 11 games during her first two seasons, Layne saw her opportunity arise during her junior year, and she has seized the starting center back role without looking back. She has started all 41 games that she has appeared in over the last two seasons, and she has only missed two games over her past two years. This season in particular, Layne has been faced with a unique challenge as she captains a back line that consists of herself and three talented freshmen. When asked about playing with those three freshmen, Layne explained that those three "are the hardest-working group of girls that she has ever played with", and their growth and communication with one another throughout the course of the season are really shining on the field throughout this NCAA Tournament run to help the team accomplish everything it has this season.

As a freshman, Charlotte was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI First Team after ranking second on the team with five goals and four assists. This season, she has found her stride in a breakout campaign that includes 12 goals and a team-high 17 assists, and her run of dominance has continued into the postseason with three goals and six assists in the last four games to help lead the Cardinal to the Final Four. Her 17 assists rank as the second-most in Stanford Cardinal history, leading her past several Stanford and United States women's national team legends — including Christen Press, Julie Foudy, and Kelley O'Hara. She sits six assists shy of the all-time Stanford record of 23 assists, set by Catarina Macario in 2019.

You may ask yourself where the soccer talent in a family like this comes from, but as the saying goes, the apple does not fall far from the tree. Devon and William Kohler — the proud parents of their three soccer superstars — were soccer standouts in their own right. Each laced up their boots for the Harvard Crimson, leading the Crimson to one of the most successful eras in soccer program history. Will was a four-time All-Ivy League selection and the Ivy League Player of the Year and First-Team All-American in 1996. He helped lead the Crimson to a pair of Ivy League Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances, including captaining the winningest team in program history as the Crimson went 16-2 in his senior season. He wrapped up his career as the school record-holder with 26 career assists and ranking third in program history with 82 career points. Following his collegiate career at Harvard, Will became the first Crimson player in program history to be drafted in the MLS SuperDraft when the New York MetroStars selected him with the 15th pick in the second round of the 1997 draft. Kohler's selection paved the way for Harvard grads to continue to realize their soccer dreams as 10 Harvard players have heard their name called in the MLS SuperDraft since that pick, including the current starting goalkeeper for the United States Men's National Team, Matt Freese.

Not to be outdone, Devon Kohler was also a soccer star with the Crimson from 1995-1998 and helped lead the Crimson to three Ivy League Championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, notably one more than her husband, Will.

The Kohler family soccer success does not stop with Layne and Charlotte as their younger brother Hudson is also playing collegiate soccer at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Hudson, a defender like his oldest sister, Layne, found his way into the starting eleven halfway through his freshman campaign, and he made his impact known to keep his spot on the pitch. He made nine appearances with seven starts, including the final six games of the season, and he played the full 90 minutes in three of those games in wins over Columbia and Yale and a loss to UMass. Hudson, like all of the siblings, does not miss streaming a game that any of his sisters play; as Layne recollects, she can always count on a single "Yessir" text following each one of her games to let her know she played well.
Growing up together, soccer was the center of the Kohler household. "We all played in our town rec league in Massachusetts, and our mom would coach mine and Charlotte's teams while our dad coached Hudson's team," recalled Layne about her memories of playing soccer from an early age. "At Christmastime, it would just be the three of us playing pickup soccer in the backyard with the many other soccer players of the family ." When recollecting on their kids' early years, Devon and Will said, "Soccer was one of several family activities that brought us together and honestly, just got the kids outside, burning energy. ... We just did what came naturally — fun, family backyard or beach soccer."

Having two high-level soccer players at the head of the household definitely made soccer a clear way to go for the Kohler kids. "It was helpful to have parents who really knew the sport," Layne said. "There was one time when I was starting to become a good defender; my mom said, 'You need to work on heading the ball', so she took me out in the backyard and had Hudson post up on me while she played long balls to my head." Meanwhile, the coaching side of things definitely had its upside for Devon and Will. "It has been amazing to watch them each develop their own soccer personality and style on the field as well as to see them using their soccer experience to develop as human beings," said the Kohler parents.

This knowledge of the game and the competitive spirit that was instilled into the family certainly paid dividends when it came to the next level of soccer. "We all love the sport soccer, and once we all knew without a doubt that soccer was something that we wanted to do at the collegiate level, it became clear that it was just important to make it worthwhile with a top-level education." That statement by the Kohler family cannot be very accurate with each child working for a degree from an "Ivy Plus" institution while also playing the sport they love at the next level. When asked about having all three kids playing collegiate soccer at top-level academic institutions, Devon and Will said, "It's a total blessing that playing soccer is a big part of their college experiences.  We both have wonderful friendships built from our college playing days and these are the bonds that stand the test of time. We are super fortunate to be able to spend quality time with our kids' teammates and hope they carry these friendships throughout their lives.  That's what this is all about!"

The bond between siblings on the field grew even stronger in 2020, when all organized soccer shut down due to the COVID-19 virus. "During COVID, it was just the three of us training together for like six months where we were doing 1v1s in the backyard," said Layne. "I have such vivid memories of our parents taking us down to the field. I would be working on crossing, while Charlotte was working on finishing, and we would just do it over and over again." When the world returned to normal, the Kohler sisters finally had the chance to play on the same team for the first time when Charlotte played up two age groups on MVLA during the summer before Layne's senior year. Then, the following year, the duo shared the field together as members of the Saint Francis High School team for the final time during Layne's senior season. "You never think you're going to get to experience that when your sibling is two years younger," said Layne about having the chance to play with Charlotte. "[The National Championship run] was really awesome because it was the first time we had been able to play together, besides some futsal teams, and it felt like we were finally in a place where we felt the closest. She had always felt like my younger sister, but getting to play with her on that level and on my team really made us feel so close." When talking about her first experiences playing together, Layne laughed when recalling that she thought it might bother her to play with her younger sister, "But it really didn't. I was just so happy for her because I knew she had a ton of potential, and after that season, it was like National Team invites and DI scholarships, and I always knew she could do that."
This close bond still remains between the three siblings, despite not being able to see each other much at all over the past four years due to busy soccer schedules, internships, and lots of competing travel. However, that all changed this weekend when Layne was able to attend the Elite Eight match in Palo Alto when the Cardinal took down Michigan State 5-1 to secure their second consecutive Final Four appearance. This Elite Eight match was just the second time in Charlotte's collegiate career that Layne was able to attend one of her games as she also drove to South Bend last season to watch her sister take on Notre Dame in an ACC matchup. Charlotte also had the chance to see Layne play in each of the past two seasons when the Maroons opened each season with two games at UC Santa Cruz, just one hour away from Palo Alto.

Despite the success on the field at Harvard, one open gash in the resume of Devon and Will is their lack of Final Four appearances during their time at Harvard, but neither would trade anything to see their daughters both have that experience this season. "The fact that they are [making the Final Four] in the same year is pretty special. Every season is a journey, and to witness both of these teams come together with so much success at the same time is really pretty amazing," said the Kohler parents. They also noted that although they have been saying 'sisters in the sweet sixteen' and 'sisters in the elite eight', they can all agree that 'sisters in the final four' definitely sounds the best.

The most complicated part of this weekend for the Kohler family might just be the travel. Layne and UChicago play in Salem, Virginia on Thursday and Saturday, while Charlotte and Stanford play in Kansas City on Friday and Monday. Both Devon and Will plan to be in attendance in Salem for the final two games of Layne's collegiate career this weekend, but they are also trying to find some magic to catch a flight to Kansas City for the semifinal in the middle and hopefully the National Championship game on Monday. They said, "It is a great problem to have. If anyone can lend us their private jet for five days, that would certainly help solve the travel complications."

Though Layne's career is coming to an end this weekend, her journey through life is just beginning with the close bond that the Kohler family shares with one another. And despite the two sisters being over 900 miles away, both sisters and their entire teams will have their eyes on the television screen, rooting for their closest friend as they chase their ultimate dream.