When Megan Cummins decided to play soccer for Ohio, she decided to play soccer for one of the top new soccer programs in the country.

And she decided to join her sister.

Erin Cummins is a junior defender on the Bobcat squad. She transferred to Ohio after spending her freshman year at the University of Missouri.

The two sisters will play their first two home games this season in the Bobcat Classic this weekend. The team plays Youngstown State at noon on Saturday and Wofford at noon on Sunday on the Shafer Street fields. But the sisters have played together for many years before these games.

Megan and Erin are two of seven siblings in a soccer family from Cincinnati. All seven of the brothers and sisters played soccer.

"Playing soccer came naturally to us, I guess," Megan Cummins said. "We just liked it."

Ohio soccer coach Wendy Logan said it's easy to see they have played soccer together for a long time.

"I think they know each other very well," she said. "They tend to look for each other and they play well together. We definitely noticed a connection right away."

The experience of playing together definitely helps, Erin said.

"I played with her in high school," she said. "I know how she plays. She's always working hard to get open and she likes the ball on her feet."

Megan and Erin bring different skills to the team.

"Megan is a very versatile player," Logan said. "She can play a lot of positions. She's very creative and tricky and somewhat of a schemer. She likes the ball at her feet and keeps things unpredictable for defenders. She has added a totally new dimension for our team."

Erin also appreciates the way Megan plays soccer.

"She's a team player," Erin said. "She's really smart on the field. She's just good and she works really hard."

Erin does different things for the team, Logan said. She plays her role well, plays it competitively, defends well, distributes the ball well and just holds the backfield together. And she's essential for the Bobcat defense, Megan said, because she plays controlled and she's a good defender.

Teammates on the field, the two sisters also choose to spend time together off the field.

"I never get sick of her," Erin said. "We're like best friends. We are really close."

They never get into fights, even when they roomed together during the preseason. Now they don't live together, but Erin said she has already had to help her sister with essential aspects of college life.

"She's a clueless freshman," she said. "I have to help her with her things like dropping a class."

The Bobcats are 2-2 after a four game road trip to open the season. The team beat Louisville 2-0 on Tuesday.

"The road trip was hard, because I wasn't used to it," Megan said. "We had to miss the first day of class. It was hard physically to play game after game, but I liked the travel."