As first-year starters, Silver Lake Regional senior twins Maddie and Logan McLeod have the net covered

“Maddie would be diving on balls that the kids were kicking like she had a helmet on,” recalled her mother, Cheri McLeod, a nurse who raised her twins as a single parent. Cheri previously worked the 3-11 shift. But this fall, that has changed to an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. overnight slot in order to watch her kids play. While her peers were kicking the ball around the field at 5 years old, McLeod routinely dove on the ball face first, stopping the play in its tracks. She preferred to use her hands and required possession of the ball. These days, Maddie and her 17-year-old twin brother, Logan, are the starting senior goalies on the girls’ and boys’ varsity soccer teams at Silver Lake Regional in Kingston. Their paths to working between the posts could not have been more different. Maddie was drawn to the position from the first time she laced up her cleats. Logan initially did not want to be a goalie, but grew tired of the running associated with playing the field and stepped up at age 11 when his youth team needed someone to play in net. Maddie is the backbone of a 6-5-1 Lakers team that has allowed just 16 goals. Logan has backstopped the boys to a 5-3-3 mark and has only conceded 12 tallies. Each is starting their first varsity season. After time on the freshman and junior varsity teams, Maddie was the varsity backup last fall. This season, Silver Lake girls’ coach Scott Williams noticed an improvement in her mobility, getting to the corners of the net, and how strong her hands were as a shot stopper. “I was seeing play from her that I hadn’t seen from her in years prior,” he said. . “She was ready to make this year her own and take this position for herself.” Meanwhile, Logan contemplated whether he was going to play this fall. After fracturing his clavicle twice earlier in high school, in both cases due to snowboarding accidents, there were doubts. His mother talked Logan into it, and he hasn’t looked back since. “I don’t think that I’ve had so much fun playing a sport, ever,” he said. Cheri hired Dave Gleason, a star on the 1988 Silver Lake state championship-winning squad, to train her son, with the hope Logan would make varsity his senior year. After a week or so of Logan’s training, Maddie wanted to sign up. They were both all-in. Logan improved on tracking long distance shots. Balls from far out, especially ones that aren’t driven with a ton of power, tend to be more difficult to read, as they are more susceptible to wind and spin. Gleason would ping plenty of long shots at Logan, directing him to see the ball into his hands. Maddie drastically improved her punting and her positioning when coming off her line for breakaways. “He’s a really positive guy,” Maddie said of Gleason. “He’s really helped my confidence. I’ve never played club or had a goalie coach. He confirmed everything that I was doing. He helped me fix a couple things. He helped me with my technique and my confidence.” Maddie’s breakout moment occurred in the Lakers’ 2-0 win over defending Division 2 champion Notre Dame (Hingham) on Oct. 4. On senior night, she stopped 10 shots to preserve the shutout in a match during which the Lakers did not control the pace or possession. When the final whistle blew, Maddie’s teammates rushed up to congratulate her. Prior to the handshake line, Williams gave her a fist bump and told her, “That was an All-Star performance.” As a goalkeeper, that’s an incredible feeling. The twins are competitive, comparing notes and take friendly jabs at one another if either one doesn’t post a shutout. The common denominator? A love for the position. “There’s something about everyone thinking it’s a sure goal — it’s a breakaway, the ball’s going in — [then] making a big save, that’s the best,” said Logan. “When I’m on, I’m on,” he continued. “You really do feel unstoppable sometimes. It’s such a burst of confidence like no other. You never play better than when you play confident.” Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.