Brother athletes Taylor and Nate Heise contributed to their teams in important ways while living thousands of miles apart on Monday.
Team USA women’s ice hockey player Taylor Heise, competing in her first Winter Olympics, scored one of five goals for the Americans in their huge victory against Sweden in a semi-final.
The U.S. women advance to a rivalry and gold medal match against Team Canada, starting Thursday at 1:10 PM ET.
Hours after the victory, Heise’s brother, Iowa State Guard Nate Heise, came after him made a late three-point shot against the No. 2 Houston Cougars who lifted his No. 6 Cyclones to a 70-67 win at home.
The pair of W’s arrived just two days after their brother, Winona State forward Ryan Heise, scored a career-high 30 points against Sioux Falls, though the effort wasn’t enough to take his team to victory.
The siblings’ father, Tony Heise, teased with The Minnesota Star Tribune that his son Ryan “started it,” which got Taylor and Nate “a little excited” on Monday.
“They all enjoy competing against each other. It’s fun,” he explained to the newspaper.
Carolyn Kaster via Associated Press
Charlie Neibergall via Associated Press
Nate Heise told reporters it was a “pretty good day” for the Heise family, noting that he believes some of his relatives went to sleep in Milan before Iowa State’s game against Houston.
“So they’ll wake up to some nice text messages,” he said, adding that he watched his sister’s big performance before hitting the field.
