When the women's ice hockey team takes to the ice on Friday, October 28, to open its season against Lebanon Valley, the Knights' opponents will be seeing double.

Halle and Jillian Crane, twin sisters from the small town of Chatham, Ontario, will both skate for Neumann. Jillian plays forward while Halle skates on defense for the Knights.

They've been playing hockey since they were 10 years old, a fact that both young women admit makes them relative neophytes to the sport. "In Canada, most people start playing hockey at 2 or 3," says Halle.

The sisters obviously made up for lost time, developing enough skill and intelligence for the game to stand out at the Stoney Creek Showcase Tournament with their Provincial Women’s Hockey League team, the Southwest Wildcats. It was there that Gina Kearns, the head coach of the Neumann women's ice hockey team, discovered the pair. 

"We liked Coach Kearns and the fact that Neumann is a Christian school," recalls Jillian. "We visited last fall, and we liked the people and the campus," adds Halle. After their first visit, they committed to Neumann and made a return trip in the spring to make off-campus living arrangements and speak with advisors about their first-year class schedule.

They enjoy living in Aston. "There's more to do here than in Chatham," Jillian admits. The sisters have already visited Philadelphia, tried the famous Philly cheesesteak, been to the Jersey shore, and taken in two Flyers games. The unexpected bonus to the professional hockey scene here is that a friend from home, Travis Konecny, just made the Flyers squad.

The twins are both intended nursing majors and hope to pursue a career in pediatric nursing.