Brothers reunite after dominant high school play

Freshman midfielder Olisa Eze kicked a ball that went a little over junior forward Kene Eze’s head Thursday, which could have potentially been the first time the brothers connected on a goal for the Rutgers men’s soccer team.

They did it before in the two years they played together at Sayreville High School (N.J.).

“In high school, we’d always joke around the headlines would be ‘Eze does it,’ ‘Eze to Eze’ or ‘The connection: Eze brothers,’” Kene Eze said. “That happened a couple times in high school. It was fun.”

Soccer has been a big part of the lives of Kene and Olisa Eze along with both of their other brothers.

Their oldest brother, Ike Eze, watched the 1998 World Cup Final between France and Brazil. Kene Eze was 4, and Oliza Eze was 3. They were both inspired.

“That’s how both of us got into it,” Kene Eze said. “We went outside, thought we’d try to play and we loved it.”

All four brothers went on to play soccer in high school, but Kene and Olisa Eze dominated the record books.

Kene Eze scored a program-record 106 goals at Sayreville High School.

He also held the record for most goals in a season with 34 his senior year, but the record did not hold for long.

Olisa Eze took his brother’s record two years later with 36 goals in his senior season, and Kene Eze was on his mind when he broke it.

“I was bragging about it. I told him I was going to beat him,” Oliza Eze said. “We had about two more games, I was at 34 goals. Then the second-to-last game I scored my 35th. I said, ‘I told you I was going to beat it.’”

Ike Eze also played soccer in high school and went to Rutgers, but he did not play in college because of asthma.

Emeka Eze, Olisa’s twin, is also a Rutgers athlete on the men’s track and field team.

But Kene and Olisa Eze are still hopeful of getting a third brother onto the Scarlet Knights.

“His passion is track, but he was also a very good soccer player. If it’s possible, we’re trying to get him to see if he can do both sports,” Kene Eze said. “It’s going to be difficult, but it’s up to him if he really wants to do it.”

Kene and Olisa Eze are both at different developing points of their careers. Kene Eze is a year removed from tying for the Knights’ team lead with six goals. Olisa Eze is a midfielder, so goal scoring is less of his job, and he is still in his first year of collegiate soccer.

“They both fight for time and fight for a spot on our team and in our rotation,” said head coach Dan Donigan. “I don’t look at those two as kind of the same or even similar. Competitively, they bring two different things to the table.”

Olisa Eze has played forward in the past, but Donigan prefers him and Kene Eze in the positions they currently play.

The brothers hold the titles as the two highest scorers in Sayreville High School history, but both have work to do to leave a legacy at Rutgers.

Olisa Eze has played only five games for Rutgers, and Kene Eze only played one year for the Knights.

Most of their teammates have only seen their short history at Rutgers, but Kene and Olisa Eze will always remember more than that.

“It’s a dream come true playing with your brother,” Olisa Eze said. “[In] high school, we played two years together. I really loved it — great energy. Teams didn’t know what to do with our speed.”

For updates on the Rutgers men’s soccer team, follow Josh Bakan on Twitter @jbakantargum.