LAYTON — After opening the season with two road game wins, Layton High girls soccer fell to Riverton 3-1 on Tuesday in the team’s first home game since the June death of assistant coach Tricia Ferrin, 50, after her battle with cancer.

In her younger years, Tricia and her identical twin sister, Tara, had moved with their family into the Oak Forest subdivision in east Layton in 1978.

My family relocated around the same time, and we became neighbors — so close that Mountain Bell, the landline carrier, issued nearly identical phone numbers to us.

Soccer became a family affair for the Ferrins when Tara became the head coach 10 years ago at Layton High– a school where mother Kathy had taught math — and Tricia followed as an assistant coach after she finished up her residency to become a doctor.

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Dad Lee became the videographer for the soccer team; he’s the guy who sets up the tripod at midfield with the green camera on a pole 20 feet in the air to record the games.

One afternoon, I was covering a Layton soccer match (midfield is where I usually sit, on the west side) and wanted to interview Tara after the game. With both coaches standing along the east sideline, I didn’t want to be embarrassed by approaching the wrong one, so I asked Lee which one was Tara.

Lee took a long look across the field, shrugged his shoulders, and said he couldn’t tell them apart from that distance.

Sadly, it won’t be an issue identifying her going forward.

At the funeral, Tara spoke about her twin sister, adding a little levity to the solemn occasion, as she extolled her virtues and accomplishments, pausing to say, “I want to be just like Tricia.”

Tara and Tricia were two-sport athletes at Layton High in the mid-1990s, excelling at basketball and soccer, and went on to play college ball. Both sisters are in the Weber State Hall of Fame, anchoring WSU women’s soccer when the program transitioned to full NCAA status in 1996; both became two-time All-Big Sky First Team selections.

They were fierce competitors, but didn’t let that get in the way of doing the right thing on the court or the pitch.

A Bonneville High parent wrote a letter to Layton High coach Van Price on Feb. 12, 1994, praising the Ferrin twins.

It reads:

Coach Price,

After sitting through Friday’s basketball game, and witnessing another defeat at the hands of the Lady Lancers, I felt I needed to write you a short letter. First of all, congratulations for a fine team. They are great players and are extremely well coached. We at Bonneville can feel proud to be in second place behind your team

However, the reason for my letter is to compliment two of your players. My daughter, Jodi, has played against the Ferrin twins for 3 years now, and believe me I have tried from the bottom of my heart to “hate” them! After all, they are superb athletes, who continue to beat us year after year, and I have tried to find fault with both of them. Unfortunately, I have never seen them play with anything but the highest degree of sportsmanship and fair play. When a player goes down, no matter which team they are from, one of the twins is usually the first one there to help them up. They are always humble in victory, finding compliments for their teammates, as well as positive remarks about their opponents. Yes, I greatly admire their athletic achievements, but even more, I admire the kind of young women they are. Their actions on the court, show me what kind of people they are off the court, and they are two fine examples for Lakers and Lancers alike.

Best of luck in State, and who knows, could we meet you again for a 4th game this year??

“It started at home; it started with our parents. Like, every practice: ‘Did you go tell your coaches thanks? Did you tell your teammates thanks?'” Tara Ferrin said. “If we made a bad pass, did you take responsibility for that? If you take responsibility, you make your teammates look better; then, you’re going to look good.”

Layton dropped to 2-1 on the preseason with the loss to Riverton, with junior Sadie Hawes netting the only Lancer score and giving her a goal in each of Layton’s games to that point.

“We had some injuries at the Bountiful game (Friday) so we had to adjust our back line. We made adjustments and started communicating more as the game went on,” Tara Ferrin said. “Yes, we lost the game ,but we saw a lot of things we can build on. That’s the positive: we saw how we can improve.”

Tara has three younger assistant coaches but has yet to name a replacement for Tricia, who coached the defense.

“You can’t replace experience,” Tara Ferrin said.

Still, Tara is not flying solo on the sidelines this season.

“(Tricia’s) out here cheering us on, cheering me on, and I can feel that,” Tara Ferrin said. “I miss her every day, but I know she’s watching over us.”