In the waning minutes of Siena's 3-0 home loss on August 20, Kam Vanderbosch '26 struck a free kick powerfully toward the net. The Syracuse goalie slid over to make the save, and said after the match she knew exactly where the ball was going. Call it a twin's intuition.
Usually the Vanderbosch family will play spike ball on the 4th of July. At other holidays and other family gatherings, there are different games, but there's always competition. Kam and her twin sister, Shea, are always in the thick of it, but never on the same team.
"We're super competitive with each other, and when one of us wins, we never let the other one live it down," said Kam.
In fact, the only time they've teamed up has been on the soccer pitch, which has been their second home since three years old. The fraternal twins from Lancaster, NY (a suburb of Buffalo) both fell in love with the game early and both developed into Division I talent. Shea stuck with goalie, and while Kam dabbled in the position, she decided, "I'd rather run around and take shots instead of standing in the net."
In high school, they played on the same club team, Western New York Flash, and in 2021, they won the ECNL national championship in Florida (below). The college offers started to pour in, and they had to decide – do we stay together, or split up?
"Shea's always been my best friend. We talk every day. Going through recruitment, we talked to a lot of the same schools, and initially we thought we'd end up in the same place. Ultimately, though, we decided that it would be better to grow up apart from each other. We couldn't stay together forever. That's not how life works."
Shea decided on Syracuse; Kam decided to listen to her friend's brother, Frank Cotroneo '21. He transfered to Siena after his freshman season at Villanova and played for the men's team.
"Frank had amazing things to say about the Siena campus, so I reached out to coach Karbowski. He watched me play and then I came to campus. I fell in love with Siena and the team atmosphere. Sometimes you just know."
The Vanderbosch twins made the conscious effort to split up, but a branch on the Karbowski coaching tree brought them back together. Syracuse goalkeeper coach Brandon DeNoyer served as an assistant at Siena from 2011-2016. His connection to the program opened the door to a non-conference series. Last year, in the twins' freshman season, the Saints and Orange played in Syracuse. This year, they played the return game in Loudonville.
"I was telling Shea after the game about the battles I was getting into with her teammates. It was probably harder on our family, though. Our parents, grandparents, and brother were at the game. Most of them had a Siena hat on and a Syracuse shirt or some combination of that."
Shea is 2-0 against her sister in college, but Kam prefers to look at the bigger picture.
"Siena has exceeded my expectations. I've met so many amazing people and professors. The academics have been so rewarding. Everything I've worked toward is paying off and then some."
