Wagner's Streilein siblings rank in top five of all-time points

It’s not totally uncommon for siblings to decide to attend the same college, but the odds of them playing the same sport and becoming part of the top-five scoring pairs in the country are pretty slim.

That's exactly what Andrew and Olivia Streilein did at Wagner.

Out of all of the DI schools with a men’s and women’s lacrosse team that had a brother-sister pair play for them at one time or another, the Streilein siblings rank fourth for all-time points, just behind duos from Syracuse, Virginia and Duke.

It was a surprise, however. Olivia, a senior attackman who has consistently been one of the team's top scorers throughout her career, said the sports information director was looking for a way to tie the two into a story for the athletics’ site when he stumbled across the information.  

“I never even thought of [it being a possibility],” said Olivia. “It’s pretty awesome to have all our hard work over the years pay off.”

The two have been playing lacrosse for a while, and Andrew, a junior attackman who recently hit a 100 career-goal milestone, takes responsibility for that. In fourth grade, he said he was tired of playing baseball.

“I wanted to try something a little faster,” Andrew said.

After a suggestion from family friends, their mother decided playing lacrosse would be a good idea. Olivia followed suit a year later.

Over the years, the two have improved their skills together, practicing their stick skills and shooting in the backyard throughout high school.

“We grew up playing lacrosse together,” said Olivia

But, it was Olivia that led them both to Wagner.

She said she loved the size of the school, the women on the team and the potential for some big competition. But, when she decided on Wagner, it was the first time Andrew had ever heard of the school. When the time came for him to choose a school, he felt it was the right choice, too.

“When I heard he was going to Wagner,” Olivia said. “I thought it was amazing.”

“It’s awesome to have her right on the other team,” said Andrew. “It’s actually really special to have her here with me.”

But, for the Streilein family, this might not be the last high-scoring duo to hit the lacrosse field. Andrew and Olivia have two younger siblings who play as well. While Olivia reported that their sister is a bit more interested in dance (and will probably pursue that over lacrosse), their brother will likely make it to the college level, too.

“He takes after Andrew a lot,” said Olivia. “I hope when [our brother] gets up here, he can break as many records as [we] did.”