Sports teams are often compared to a family. They are a group of closely related people, working together, as one. In the case of both St. John Fisher Lacrosse programs, that couldn’t be more true.

Katie and Lauren Glavin, and Mike and Jon Cortina are the current sister/brother acts in Fisher’s lacrosse programs. As of press date, each team is off to a record start.

Cardinals’ athletes take pride in hard work and team effort. It can’t hurt having a pair of siblings on the field.

Katie and Lauren Glavin are natives of the great lacrosse area of Syracuse. So it is no surprise that they have had an immediate impact on the Fisher lacrosse program, and it should also be seen as no surprise that they came to the same program.

The two have played multiple sports together for many years.

“Growing up, Katie and I played a lot of sports together, including soccer and softball,” said Lauren, a freshman. “We played varsity lacrosse together in high school, and I really just played whatever she played, and she taught me.”

Katie, a junior, has done a good job of teaching. Currently Lauren sits third on the team in points with 21 goals and six assists. Katie is right on her heels in fourth with 13 goals and 12 assists.

With each being so successful, one would think there may be a bit of a competitive edge between the two. In typical sibling fashion, there seems to be a varying opinion.

“We’ve never really had a competitive feel,” Katie said. “If she scored more goals than me, I never cared and still don’t. I love seeing her do well.”

The younger Glavin sees it a little different.

“There’s always been a competitive feel between us with everything that we do,” Lauren said. “We don’t like to lose, and losing to your sister is just the worst”

Regardless, they have managed to make their chemistry work. Lauren is the goal scorer and Katie loves to get her the ball.

“Katie is such a selfless player, and gets more excited to see Lauren score than when she scores herself,” junior Megan Geatrakas said. “Katie is so proud of her sister and you can see it when they play. They always have each others back, and that is why there is no hesitation in their play.”

It has always been said that siblings have a special connection. Lauren couldn’t agree more and says it translates onto the field.

“I can read her eyes on the field,” Lauren said. “I can always tell if she is going to pass to me, and since she is my sister, I always trust her passes. We really know each others style very well.”

“They work so well together, I guess it is one of those unspoken things siblings have,” head coach Shannon McHale said. “They give each other feedback all the time, and they take it very well from one another. They really are two very competitive women, with great character.”

With that said, who is the better player?

“Well, since I taught her everything I know, I would most definitely have to say that I am,” Katie said jokingly. “I mean she is good, but not quite up to par with me yet.”

Lauren couldn’t help but to disagree, but was quick to give some credit to her older sister.

“Well, there was a time that she was better than me, but of course I am the better one now,” Lauren said. “I guess I can give her some credit though, she taught me most of the stuff I know.”

The story of Mike and Jon Cortina is much the same. Growing up and playing sports together was the norm.

“Growing up was pretty much circulated around playing sports,” said Jon, a freshman. “It has really helped me and Mike become closer throughout the years.”

Like the Glavins, the Cortina brothers played multiple sports together. Ultimately though, they settled on lacrosse and St. John Fisher.

“I wasn’t surprised at all when Jon decided to come to Fisher,” said Mike, a junior. “In the end, I was kind of excited to be able to play lacrosse with him for two more years.”

Jon says that he did not originally plan to come to Fisher.

“I didn’t really plan to go to college where Mike did,” said Jon. “It kind of just worked out that way. He gave me a good sense of how things work here, so I had a good idea of what Fisher would be like.”

Unlike the Glavins, Mike and Jon aren’t able to work together as closely on the field. Mike plays attack, and has scored eleven goals and seven assists in 11 games this season. Jon however, plays goal, but has made his presence felt behind senior Brian Cummings.

Playing in eight games, Jon has a 3.98 GAA and has stopped 73 percent of the shots he has faced. Despite not playing on offense, they still feel that sibling connection.

“We’ve been playing together for so long, we just know each others style of play,” Mike said. “It is just exciting that we get to watch each other play and excel. Had we gone to different schools, that would not be possible.”

Despite playing drastically different positions, they have been able to help each other through the years. Not every player has the luxury of having a goalie in their family to shoot at and vice versa.

“When he is standing in goal in the front yard letting me shoot at him, it helps my game a lot,” Mike said. “He’s made me a better shooter.”

“Letting him shoot on me in the yard has really helped me,” Jon said. “All those shots are the best piece of advice he has ever given.”

It is safe to say that nobody has taken more shots from Mike Cortina than Jon, and nobody has stopped more shots from Mike than Jon Cortina.

Who has the edge?

“Sometimes in our summer leagues I play offense too, so that shows that I can do both,” Jon said. “Really though, I may be better because I have been able to take everything I have learned without him and combine it with the stuff that he has taught me.”

Mike recognizes Jon’s talents in the net, but pointed out one obvious stat.

“Jon is the only one of us to make the Empire State Team for lacrosse. He shared time in goal with a kid who now plays D-I at Rutgers,” Mike said. “Despite that I would still have to say that I am the better player, he hasn’t scored a goal in years.”