Emily Mara (left) and Lexi Mara pose for a photo Dec. 6. Emily and Lexi faced off for the first time as NCAA collegiate rivals in the weekend series Dec. 5 and 6. Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics.

No one wants their sister to win more — but no one wants to beat her more, either. Now make them twins on rival college hockey teams.

The last women’s hockey game at Matthews Arena was emotional for everyone in the building. But for the Mara twins, tensions were especially high, as Lexi, a freshman defender for Northeastern, and Emily, a freshman forward for Boston College, faced each other in the NCAA for the first time.

“Neither one of them is afraid to throw an extra hard elbow against her sister,” said Liz Mara, the twins’ mom.

While Lexi knew in the spring of her junior year she was headed to Northeastern for hockey, Emily committed to Boston College for soccer, and only in the winter of her senior year did she officially secure a spot on the hockey roster.

After starting in early November, after Lexi moved up the line up and Emily’s soccer season ended, both have made an impact on their teams. A month in, the whole family was in Matthews — not dressed in any team colors — for the Huskies vs. Eagles double-header Dec. 5 and 6.

Emily purchased a Boston College sweatshirt for their youngest sister before the game, which she was forbidden to wear on game day.

“[Our family] tries to say they’re [as] neutral as possible, so no team was worn on sweatshirts or anything,” Lexi said of the rivalry. “But hopefully they’re Huskies fans.”

The twins grew up learning to skate in a makeshift backyard rink made from a tarp and water from the hose. In the third grade, Emily, Lexi and their older sister, Caitlin, who is a sophomore soccer player at the University of North Carolina, decided they would play hockey, following in the footsteps of their dad, who played college hockey at Colgate University. They all joined the local team, and as Liz said, “the rest is history.”

Emily and Lexi played on the same team all the way until high school. Emily wanted a boarding school experience at Phillips Academy in Andover, while Caitlin and Lexi went to Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, and their teams only met once a year. They remained on the same Assabet Valley girls’ hockey team, where they became four-time state champions from 2021-25.

The competitiveness of having a sibling on the ice goes both ways. Liz remembers when — while the girls were in elementary school — Lexi hip-checked another skater to clear a path for Emily.

“I’m pretty sure she got a major penalty for it, but it was a very funny family moment because she was definitely protecting her sister,” Liz said.

Competitiveness runs in the Mara family.

“Even playing board games at home, our family is so competitive that there will [be] fights if you don’t win,” Emily said.

Both sisters credit sibling competitiveness and companionship as a driving force in improving their skills.

Lexi Mara (left) and Emily Mara pose for a photo. For high school, Emily attended Phillips Academy while Lexi went to Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. Photo courtesy Liz Mara.

“They’re not easy on each other. So, if one of them was like, ‘Oh, I thought I did well,’ [then] the other one’s like, ‘No, you didn’t.’ I think it also brings a level of honesty to their game,” Liz said, describing car rides home after games. “Especially being twins, there’s always a level of ‘I don’t want the other one to be better than me’ that goes on and pushing each other to get better.”

The hour-long drives to and from practice can be taxing for young athletes, but the sisters did it all together and would often end the evenings by skating in the backyard and shooting pucks in the driveway. The family would play the hockey version of the game H.O.R.S.E. every summer.

“You weren’t ever doing it alone,” Emily said. “I always had my sister there with me. Even if I didn’t want to go, at least I was doing it with someone.”

Emily and Lexi were born into a true Boston women’s hockey family, if there ever was one.

Their uncle is Paul Mara, a former NHL player who spent 13 years in the league, one of them with the Bruins. But more importantly for the girls, he was the head coach of the Boston Pride — Boston’s professional women’s hockey team before the Professional Women’s Hockey League, or PWHL, was founded — for five years. The Mara family was watching stars like Jillian Dempsey and Hilary Knight in their prime.

“The women on that team were excellent players and very generous with their time. As a young girl, it’s fun to have another girl to look up to,” Liz said. “I think that [Emily and Lexi] really understand that they’re in a generation where women’s sports are becoming such a bigger part of society. I think both of them are super proud to be part of that.”

Emily and Lexi grew up going to Beanpots (while Lexi says she was neutral, and Emily insists she would root for Boston College) — and now they’ll play in the third Women’s Beanpot tournament hosted in TD Garden Jan. 20. While Boston College and Northeastern won’t play each other in the semifinals, both will hope to meet in the championship game.

“It’s something a kid dreams of, coming from Massachusetts, and it’s really awesome that we get to play in [TD] Garden because I’ve gone to so many Bruins games,” Lexi said. “When I was little, I was like, ‘This would be such a great place to play.’”

Given the unusual timing of their commitments, the sisters didn’t expect to play against each other, but said they were excited to stay close to each other and to home. Now, the pressure is on for this year’s Beanpot tournament, and Emily says divided sweatshirts might already be on the way.

“That should be such a cool experience, going from watching all the Beanpots to being able to play in one, and it’d be even cooler to play against my twin there,” Emily said.

The final women’s hockey game in Matthews Arena ended in a 3-2 win and a weekend sweep over BC for the Huskies.

“I’m never going to hear the end of it at the dinner table,” Emily said.

About the Contributor

Frances Klemm is a third-year international affairs and cultural anthropology major with minors in french and journalism practice. She is also a community co-op at Boston.com. At The News, she is the finance beat writer for the campus section and the women’s hockey beat writer for the sports section. You can follow her on X @frances_klemm.