WORCESTER – American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once wrote that sisters are probably “the most competitive relationship within the family.” Hannah and Elle Murray are no different. They have their harmless sister fights and competitions like any other typical sibling relationship, but when it comes to playing field hockey, the rivalry is left at home.

“There’s times when we fight,” said Elle, a senior member of the Doherty High School varsity field hockey team. “We just give those little annoying nudges to each other sometimes.”

“They’re just little fights about nothing,” said Hannah, who is a sophomore on the same team as her sister. In fact, the Murray sisters play on the same front line with each other.

“If we fight at home, it never carries over to the field,” Elle said as she smiled in Hannah’s direction. “It always ends before we step on that field. We never argue on the field. We are always on the same page out there.”

The Murray sisters’ relationship on Doherty’s front line has led to the best one-two scoring punch for any field hockey duo in Central Mass this season. Hannah leads all of Worcester County with a total of 30 points, including a Central Mass best 22 goals. Right behind her is Elle with the second most Central Mass points with 24, including 13 goals and 11 assists. Doherty’s scoring tandem has helped lead the Highlanders to a 4-0 first place record in the Inter-High League and a 10-1-2 record overall. 

Even though Elle is looking up at Hannah in the individual scoring column, it is Hannah who searches out her big sister for guidance and advice.

“I do admire her as a mentor,” said Hannah, as she smiled back at her sister. “Sometimes we’re lining up after a play and she gives me a pointer. Even after the game on the way home she’ll tell me something that I’ll need to work on or just tell me something I did well. It feels good that she is recognizing me and she notices me. It’s just motivating. Just looking at her knowing that she’s going to college for field hockey (at Assumption University in 2022) and just knowing what she’s going to do and having that built in support makes me feel so good. I couldn’t do it without her.”

Coincidently, this was the first time Hannah has told Elle about her role model status. “My dad has always said she’s looked up to me, but I never really thought anything of it until now,” Elle said. “Now that she has said it to me, I guess it means more than just hearing it from other people. It does feel good.”

Elle then paused as the realization of being a role model to Hannah hit her deeply. “I don’t know,” she continued. “Sometimes I did think it was a possibility that she looked up to me, but other times I didn’t think she did. I’m just her sister … I honestly feel like seeing her succeed and looking up to me makes me want to work even harder to be that role model for her. So, I think it just pushes me even more to show her I’m proud of her.”

The Murray sisters have turned their sisterly love into dominance on the field. However, it takes more than a sibling bond to find success in the sport. Both players have different field hockey skill sets that complement each other’s play on the field. Hannah, who is slightly taller than her older sis, plays with more power in her game, including a strong shot and a knack for getting her body in the right positions on the field for scoring chances. In comparison, Elle plays a finesse game with excellent stick work and agility with an uncanny ability to maneuver the ball in tight spaces to either find her own shot or set up Hannah and other teammates for scoring opportunities. 

Hannah credits her success to playing ice hockey since age eight. “I feel like your IQ for field hockey is better when you play ice hockey,” she said. “Ice hockey is faster which translates well because I’m able to slow things down more while playing field hockey. I feel like it helps with positioning. I know where my teammates will be and they know where I’m gonna be.”

Doherty coach Megan Brunelle said Hannah’s ice hockey skills helps her get “down low” when controlling the ball “and she has great stick skills. She’s aggressive. She hits the ball hard. She shoots to score. She has good vision of the field. She sees things on the field that a lot of sophomores are learning. She came in ready and definitely puts in a lot of work in the offseason. Her work ethic is really strong. Hannah is a strong threat as a scorer and she makes a lot of her goals happen.” 

Elle’s abilities to match her sister’s speed as well as her elite stick skills makes it difficult for the pair to be stopped. “I think my speed helps me a lot, because it just makes me move much faster with the ball,” she said. “I’ve been working on my stick skills a lot to be faster going in and out of people. I’m able to put just hard shots on net that I think are helpful because our team can get the rebound for a tip in.”

“Elle’s superfast,” Brunelle said. “She can go in any direction on the field. She’ll get up the field. She’ll look for the shot. Many times, she can produce a breakaway or she can find the open player. She’s either a scoring threat or she makes it happen (by assisting on goals).”

The sisters never try to outdo each other. They only hope to support each other. “At certain things she can be better, and at certain things I can be better,” Elle said. “We have our strengths and weaknesses. That’s why we work so well together. That’s why we complement each other so well.”

Hannah and Elle have been high school teammates for nearly two seasons, but their obvious chemistry goes beyond high school.

“We haven’t been playing together that long,” Elle said. “But we just kind of feel this connection between us. It feels like the chemistry on the field is very high.”

“I feel like we just know what the other one is going to do,” Hannah said.

“It’s a sixth sense,” Elle interjects.

Hannah then said “Just watching each other play for so long, we can kind of tell what the other is going to do.”

“For example,” Elle said. “With goal scoring, if I were to bring the ball up and Hannah was supposed to be on the post, I just expect that she’s going to be there and she always is. So, it works out in our favor.” 

“I think on give-and-go passes as well,” Hannah said.

“Yeah, the give-and-go works well,” Elle said. “We talk about it a lot at home.

We talk about game scenarios and if something didn’t go our way, we talk about it and try to perfect it. And then put it on the field to see if it works.”

The sisters also put in the work in the classroom. Hannah is ranked number one in her class after freshman year, while Elle is ranked in the top 10 percent of her senior class.

“Both girls work hard and are extremely driven,” said Brunelle.

The sisters are not the only Murrays on the team. Elle and Hannah used to play on the front line with their cousin Nora Murray, who unfortunately tore her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) prior to the season, which required season ending surgery. Last season, Hannah was ranked third in scoring with 35 points behind Nora with 36 points and Elle leading with 66 points.

“It’s kind of like a big family thing,” Brunelle said. “We used to have a Murray, Murray, Murray, forward line.”

“It was kind of out of the ordinary because there’s no other team with three family members on the forward line,” Elle said.

“The chemistry was great last year when it was the three of us because we knew where each other played. We knew what each other was going to do during the games.”

Senior Lauren Harper has stepped in nicely to fill Nora’s shoes. “She felt the pressure filling Nora’s spot,” Elle said. “She was like, ‘I know I can do this.’ She’s pushed herself. I think she’s done a really good job this season in Nora’s place.”

They have another cousin on the team as well, junior Claire Murray. She is a midfielder and defender for the Highlanders. “The chemistry and the intensity is always high because we all put the effort in together,” said Hannah. 

The closest bond on the team is still between Elle and Hannah. Mead sums it up in the second part of her quote about sisters. “Once the sisters are grown,” Mead states. “It becomes the strongest relationship.”

Hannah said it better. “It just makes the game more fun to play with family.”