Siblings in sync

By Christopher Drexel

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 | midnight

Joe and Kaylee Vitale's similar hair, facial features and demeanor indicate they are brother and sister.

Watching the two stand in front of a soccer goal and face blistering practice shots from their teammates at Bishop Gorman may be an even bigger indicator.

"If you look at pictures of us playing, it's really funny," Kaylee Vitale said. "Taking kicks, we have the same facial expressions. Our arms and everything are in the same place. Even when we dive we look alike."

Though Joe Vitale is a senior for Gorman's boys soccer team and Kaylee Vitale is a sophomore with the girls team, the two are on the field together more than one might expect.

During the fall, Kaylee Vitale regularly practices with the two-time defending state champion boys team. She does it with the intent to improve her game, but also to spend time with her older brother.

"He's the reason why I'm a goalie," she said. "He taught me a lot. He's my role model."

Joe Vitale his little sister was a scrappy goalkeeper from years of taking shots on her when the two would play at home, where soccer is always the topic of conversation.

Joe Vitale's opinion was confirmed when she first began practicing with the Gorman boys before her freshman year in the summer of 2007.

"It doesn't happen a lot for a girl to always practices with a boys team," Joe Vitale said. "But she is probably more aggressive than any of the guys out here. Whenever I hit shots at her, she gets beat up quite a bit. So that toughens her up."

Kaylee Vitale's toughness was evident during the girls soccer season last year.

In just the second game, the Gaels' starting keeper, then-junior Alex Holland, broke her foot. With no high school experience and after entering the season as the projected back-up, Kaylee Vitale started the rest of the season and "stepped up huge," Gorman coach Nick Arbelaez said.

This winter, Kaylee Vitale will be in a tough competition with a healthy Holland for starting duties. But regardless of the outcome, she is the Gaels' keeper of the future.

"She just has confidence, and a lot of that stems from her brother's success in the program," Arbelaez said. "She has a lot of tendencies like her brother. She talks a lot. She is a leader on the field. You can tell she wants to emulate him. She has a couple years to catch up to what Joe has done in the program, but she has his work ethic, and that's a great start."

There might not be a better role model for a high school goalie than Joe Vitale. As soon as he arrived at Gorman as a freshman in the fall of 2005, he has been entrenched as the starter, including being in goal for the state championship games in 2006 and last season.

Arbelaez, who coaches both the boys and girls, said he is sure Joe Vitale is a Division I player. He has already drawn interest from schools like UNLV, Cal-Irvine and San Diego.

The coach thinks Vitale can lead a group of four seniors, several of which he feels are potential Division I athletes, to a third consecutive state title.

"Joe means a lot to every one of the guys on the field," Arbelaez said. "Our younger players all look up to him and when he comes out pumped up and ready to go, the team definitely feeds off it. He is a vocal leader, but the one attribute he has that you rarely see in keepers is work ethic, and his makes him one of the greatest keepers to play in this high school era."

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or [email protected].