For most college freshmen, life is a big adjustment jumping from high school to college. They find newfound freedom and independence and the ability to make their own decisions. But obviously many times it's hard to make friends in a new environment.

For freshmen Emily Kenyon and Hanna Griffin (Editor's note: no relation to the reporter of this article), having the benefit of knowing each other for almost a decade has come in handy now that college is off to a start.

"Just to know someone on the team makes it easier to come in and get to know everybody else," Kenyon said.

The two freshmen are a vital part of this year's women's soccer team, and despite being just over three hours from home, the pair feel at home at Dayton — the long-time friends are both teammates and roommates here.

Both Griffin and Kenyon played their high school soccer at Jackson High School, a suburban soccer powerhouse located just west of Canton, Ohio. Both girls were a huge part of the success of a team that participated in four straight Regional Finals, and went a combined 67-11-4 during those years, including 20-2 during their senior campaign, where Jackson saw five of its 11 seniors go on to play collegiate soccer.

The girls suspect that the team's coach, Frank Gagliardi, was a big part of the team's success, as well as a part of the familiarity that all of the players had with one another, as most of the girls had played together on the "Jackson Fury" ever since they were in the U-10 age bracket.

"Both Emily and Hanna were both great players and teammates," Gagliardi said. "The University of Dayton is getting two great people."

The cohesiveness made coaching much easier for Gagliardi.

"We had eleven seniors," Griffin said. "We were really close. We were all best friends. Five of us ended up going to play in college. We all got along, our high school coach made us want to be [at practice]"

The closeness of the team didn't just stay among the seniors of that graduating class at Jackson, but it trickled down upon all levels of the program that year due to the leadership the seniors provided.

"There was no such thing as freshmen or seniors on that team," Kenyon said. "We were just a team."

Both of the players earned significant accolades. Griffin's came on the defensive end, as she was selected as the Stark County Defender of the Year in 2007, while Kenyon was selected as the Federal League Player of the Year in both 2006 and 2007, as well as Stark County Player of the year in 2006.

While the team ended up going to the Regional Finals all four years of high school without getting the ultimate goal of a State Championship, the girls found that one of their most proud moments of their high school careers actually came in one of those tournament losses.

"The biggest highlight was senior year in high school," Kenyon said. "In the regional finals we scored on a team we'd never scored against in the history of Jackson High School, Walsh Jesuit."

Griffin echoed the same memory, saying that the moment ultimately would have been better had they won, but the fact that they scored two goals on a team they'd never scored against made the moment a highlight for them to remember.

As for their life after high school, the girls now find themselves on an even bigger stage here at Dayton.

"It's very intense here," Kenyon said. "This is definitely a step up from high school."

With the intensity that is prevalent on the Flyer soccer team, both girls have high expectations and think that this year's team can make a big splash not only on the conference scene, but on the national stage as well.

"There's really no weak spots on this team," Griffin said. "Each practice you have to go hard."

Kenyon agreed. "There are a lot of talented players here," Kenyon said. "I think we can go as far as we can if people are willing to put in the work."

The girls could be right, and the team will definitely have its chance to prove themselves with members from the Big Ten, ACC and Big East on the early non-conference schedule.

As the season gets underway, Kenyon and Griffin find themselves together on the field for the 10th straight season. With the success that their teams have had through high school and their youth, that's a good sign for the Dayton Flyers.