It is not unusual to see sisters on the same field. Even identical twins have confused onlookers in the past.

Brunswick High School girls soccer coach Martyn Davison has a set of twins, AND their baby sister on his squad, three players who have been keys to the Dragons’ success this season.

Senior captain Anna Cowan and her twin Madeline have been through it all during their time at Brunswick, both the ups and the downs, while sister Emily is a wide-eyed freshman learning the ropes, with her big sisters to guide her through.

The Cowan clan and the rest of their Dragon teammates will visit Bangor on Saturday for the Eastern A semifinals, with kick-off set for 11 a.m.

The Cowans

Madeline, or Maddy as she is called by her teammates, Anna and Emily are the daughters of Kevin and Beth Nowak Cowan.

According to mom, the girls are close, with much different personalities.

“Anna is quiet with a great sense of humor and is very competitive, while Maddy is competitive and very team focused,” said Beth of her twin 17-year-old girls. “Emily is a young lady who gets along with everyone and is also very competitive. Madeline and Anna have been together their whole lives and know each other better than anyone. They have been great big sisters to Emily, helping her adjust to high school as a freshman and to varsity sports in high school.

“And, all three are excellent students!”

Davison has watched Maddy and Anna grow during their time at Brunswick. The duo have helped Brunswick to a four-year mark of 51-5-1 and four straight appearances in the Eastern A postseason.

“Maddy is a fine young lady with a courteous manner who always listens to instructions and is a coach’s dream as a player,” said Davison of his senior midfielder. “She has a great first tough, great vision and excellent passing skills. She is good in the air and is able to score goals from set plays.”

Maddy has four goals and an assist this season for Brunswick, which is the No. 4 seed in Eastern A with a 10-4-1 record. She also swims for David Bright’s Brunswick swim team, which captured the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference title and finished second to Cape Elizabeth at states earlier this year, with Maddy taking fifth in the 100 freestyle, seventh in the 50 free and helping the 200 free relay team to victory.

“It has been fun to have one last hurrah between the three of us, having grown together while playing soccer,” said Maddy, who recalls the times growing up trying to go one-on-one against her twin sister Anna. “Well, I got ‘nutmegged’ a lot, and it has forced me to challenge myself and grow as a player with someone as good as Anna is. It is nice to always know someone on the team, and Anna has been right there with me.

“When coach says to pair up, it is like ‘ya, let’s do it,’ and Anna and I work together. We are always partners. We have had our share of competitions against each other, but since we don’t play the same position, we are more like supportive.”

Anna, a striker, is Brunswick’s leading scorer this season (11 goals, four assists) despite struggling off and on with injuries.

“Anna has great dribbling and finishing skills,” said Davison of his senior captain. “She can score with either foot, and like Maddy is a fine young lady with a courteous manner about her.”

Anna remarked about Maddy’s skills on the field in helping to make her a better player.

“ We have our own strengths. She always seems to know where everyone is at on the field at all times. If I have the ball, she is telling me where to go,” said Anna, who also has used Maddy as someone she can blow off steam to. “ We have yelled at each other on the field, but I think that happens with any siblings. It has always been great to have someone back there who is looking out for you. She rules the midfield and we couldn’t win games without her.”

“Anna is such a great goal scorer, and can really do it all on the field,” said Maddy.

Youngster Emily, a 14- year-old freshman who has worked her way into Davison’s starting lineup this season, has learned quite a bit from her older siblings.

“I feel like I learned a lot more because they were always showing me what they had learned at practice,” recalled Emily while growing up. “I would go to practices and just watch and learn. When I get to midfield, I am usually passing it forward to one of them. I have a connection with them, from when we were in the backyard to out here in high school. I felt some pressure, but no more than anyone else. They have never put it in my face, like they are getting more playing time than me. I am three years younger than them and I have time to grow.”

“Emily is a solid defender with great passing skills,” said Davison. “She is very athletic, and has been able to move back to defense and give us some big minutes this season.”

Anna and Maddy remembered playing tricks on their younger sister.

“When we were little and playing soccer in the backyard, we would trick her out and go around her, and it was a lot of fun,” laughed Anna. “But now, we can’t get around Emily anymore because she is just so good. Emily in the back really gives us some security because we know how good she is and has shown that this season.”

“I used to play midfield, but I realized that Maddy was really good there and I wanted to do something different,” said Emily. “So, I changed and began playing back, and that has worked out for me this season.”

Poster board

Last season certainly didn’t end the way the Dragons had hoped. After finishing the regular season with a 14-0 record, Brunswick was upset by seventh-seeded Erskine Academy in the quarterfinals.

Anna has used this loss as a way to motivate her to finish strong, even nailing The Times Record article from that game in her room.

“I have a bulletin board in my room and I have the newspaper article that said ‘Erskine stuns the Dragons,’ and every time I see it, I feel that as long as we got past that step this year it would be successful year,” said Anna after she scored a pair of goals in Brunswick’s 4-0 quarterfinal win over fifthseeded Oxford Hills on Tuesday. “I think we can go to Bangor and win. We just have to play our game.”

“We have come a long way since starting the season with two losses,” said Maddy. “I am just excited to have another game with my sisters. Hopefully, we will play more games this year.”

Knowing that after this year Emily will see her sisters move on to college is a sad thing for the youngster.

“I really don’t think about it, mostly because we want to keep winning and play more games with each other,” said Emily.

“We will be sad when our soccer careers at Brunswick end, but we will be excited to come back and see how much better Emily gets,” added Maddy.