Hailing from Green Brook, N.J., the Corboz sisters are at the heart of the present and future of a Georgetown women’s soccer program on the rise.

Senior attacking midfielder Daphne Corboz is a two-time All-American, and is ranked as the sixth best women’s college soccer player in the country by Top Drawer Soccer.

For over three seasons she has dazzled fans of the Blue and Gray, running the midfield like her soccer role model Zinedine Zidane, and linking up brilliantly with striker teammates.

Freshman attacking midfielder Rachel Corboz has impressed in her first few games in the squad, combining well with her sister, as well as senior forward Vanessa Skrumbis, and delivering a blistering strike from a few yards outside the box for her first goal as a Hoya.

The sisters have racked up plaudits and awards over the past few years: Rachel led her club team, PDA, to three national championships in four years and her high school team to two state titles, earning First Team All-State honors from The Star-Ledger; Daphne has already set the all-time Georgetown women’s record with 35 goals scored en route to winning the Big East Offensive Player of the Year in 2012 and the Big East Midfielder of the Year in 2013, all the while remaining in contention for the trophies given to the best college soccer players in the country, including the Hermann Trophy.

“Every so often as a coach you get a chance to get a special player, and special players are very enjoyable to coach. If you get one in your career sometimes you’re doing great,” Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “So to have another player come along like Daphne has been fantastic for me as a coach, and also for this program. And now we’re seeing to some extent the passing of the torch, because ultimately after this year it will become Rachel’s team for the next three years. I’m very lucky to have three wonderful attacking midfielders to run our team.”

The Corboz sisters did not attend the same high school in New Jersey, and the rivalry was clear when Daphne’s Watchung Hills team and Rachel’s Pingry squad faced off four years ago.

“It’s been pretty cool to see her and Rachel together,” Nolan said. “And Daphne’s always quick to remind me her high school team beat Rachel’s [during] her senior year and Rachel’s freshman year for the state championship. But there’s a lot of good, lighthearted ribbing between them. There is pretender to the throne and the queen of the throne right now.”

Despite Rachel’s loss to Daphne at the high school level, the younger Corboz sister has enjoyed huge successes with her traveling team, PDA.

“With my club team this past year we won nationals for the third time,” Rachel said. “We had won in our U-15 year and U-17, so being able to win it again our U-18 year just proves that we didn’t let down after winning it once or twice, we just kept going.”

Daphne and Rachel grew up in a vibrant soccer household, as their father played in France while their brother played for the storied University of Maryland program.

“With my family, we have this game called soccer tennis, and it’s basically a small net and you just juggle it back and forth over the net,” Daphne said. “Usually it’s Rachel and my dad against my brother and me. It got pretty competitive this summer, but we play whenever we’re home.”

The sisters have attended nearly every home game of Sky Blue FC, a women’s professional soccer team based in New Jersey which played in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer League and currently plays in the National Women’s Soccer League. The pair are also fans of the English Premier League’s Arsenal FC.

One of Rachel’s soccer role models is midfielder Tobin Heath, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. Women’s National Team.

“She’s just very good technically, very good with the ball at her feet, taking players on combining,” Rachel said of Heath. “So I’ve always looked up to her. She’s played my club team, so her coming to our practices and being able to train with her and see her on the field with me was really great.”

Both Rachel and Daphne have been in the picture for the USWNT themselves, having been selected for summer camps to train with the U-18 and U-23 teams, respectively.

But for now, their main goal is to take the next step and improve on the Hoyas’ recent results at major tournaments, where they have consistently reached the semifinals of the Big East tournament and the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“I’m looking forward to being able to play and compete with this team, and play with all-around very good players,” Rachel said. “Being able to play with Daphne [during] her senior year when I’m a freshman is something I’m excited about and it’s a lot of fun so far. I’m excited to try to help this team out in any way I can, just to compete and try to get better every day.”

As for Daphne, she knows one thing about her plans for life after her senior season.

“I don’t really know what my plans are, but I do definitely want to keep playing soccer,” Daphne said. “Soccer is my passion.”

Academically, Daphne is on the pre-med track, while Rachel currently aims to major in Biology.
And Nolan emphasized that while soccer is something that both Corboz sisters excel in; their personal character is just as impressive.

“Soccer is in their blood and it’s kind of what has made all of the kids special players,” Nolan said. “But they’re wonderful kids as well. You can see how they carry themselves on and off the field — they were brought up properly. And they’re a great reflection on our program. They’re a great reflection on their parents, but they’re a great reflection on our program as well.”