They started soccer together. Got their braces together. Are mistaken for twins. But one thing sisters Meghan and Amber Fuller won't do together is try to win a state championship.

Amber is a junior for Kamehameha, winner of the past two state championships and the top seed at this week's tournament. Meghan is a senior for Pearl City, the No. 2 seed in the JN Automotive Group/HHSAA Girls Soccer Division I and II State Championships. It starts today at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Complex with the championships Saturday night.

"We're not competitive like we're trying to juke each other, or score more goals," Meghan said. "But more for our teams to beat each other.

"I just hope we play against (Kamehameha) in the championships."

"I think it's exciting and fun," Amber said.

The Warriors won their third straight Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship. The Chargers captured the O'ahu Interscholastic Association title for the first time since 2001.

Although they play for different schools, the sisters feel soccer brings them "closer, because we cheer each other on," Amber said.

"More like yell at each other," Meghan added.

"We push each other," Amber clarified.

That is typical of the interaction between the sisters. They are supportive as opposed to competitive. It may help that because Meghan plays forward and Amber plays as a left midfielder, they rarely go up against each other.

"When we get close to each other, it's like, 'Oh, the Fuller sisters,' " Meghan said.

"All of us are aware of the situation, but they seem to handle it really well," Kamehameha coach Michele Nagamine said. "They give each other their space; they keep a respectful distance.

"But if one of them started it, the other would definitely finish it."

Last year Kamehameha ended Pearl City's season in the semifinals of the state tournament, but Amber "didn't say anything," about the win, Meghan said.

Whatever effect playing against her sister might have had on Meghan last year are gone, Pearl City coach Frank Baumholtz said.

"I think this year it won't make any difference," he said. "Meghan has her goal, and she wants to be in that final game."

It was that determination that led Meghan to pass on traveling to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas Secondary School Girls All-America Soccer Team awards banquet in Baltimore, Md.

It fell on the same weekend of the OIA Championships.

"She told them (she couldn't make it because) she was going to be playing in the championship game ... two weeks before the game," Baumholtz said.

At that banquet, Nagamine was awarded the NSCAA National High School Coach of the Year.

The petite players (Meghan is 5 feet 3 "and a half!" and Amber is 5-2) may look the same from afar, but when asked if they think they look alike, they resoundingly responded: "No!"

Even their playing styles vary slightly.

"(Amber's strengths) are her ball skills and vision and speed," Meghan said. Amber says Meghan has "speed and hustle and the ability to move the ball forward."

Baumholtz said Amber is "solid. She's a very consistent player, she's skilled, she has good field vision. She's not very big, but she can control the ball and play with the best of them. To play for Kamehameha, that means you're playing for one of the top teams in the state.

"I'd love to have her on our team."

He almost didn't have Meghan, who tried to enter Kamehameha as an eighth-grader.

"I wanted to come to Kamehameha, but Pearl City turned out to be good," Meghan said. "A lot of my friends go there. Now my teammates ... we're like a family."

Nagamine said Meghan "is one of those players, where if you're stupid enough to leave her alone, she's going to punish you.

"Everyone knows she's a good player for Pearl City, but I think she's been one of the best players in the state."

Meghan led the OIA with 19 goals last season, adding four more in the postseason, and was named to the Advertiser All-State first team. Amber, who has started since her freshman year, earned honorable mention ILH honors.

Nagamine, who also coaches Meghan for the Leahi Soccer Club, said the sisters are "both such nice, nice kids. They are family-oriented, hard working, and industrious.

"They embody a lot of the spirit of how athletics helps kids to be better people."

Father Stan says his daughters are supportive of each other.

"When one loses a game, the other one picks them up," Stan said. "Amber is ultra-competitive. Meghan is more happy go lucky.

"Meghan can lose and be OK in a day. Amber — it takes a couple of months."

And who does he plan to cheer for?

"We intend to cheer for both of our girls and their teams equally, but it would be nice for Pearl City and Meghan to get a state championship since Kamehameha and Amber have gotten the last two," he said.

NOTES

In the Division II playoff game, Kaua'i defeated Seabury Hall, 3-0, at Saint Louis School yesterday. The Red Raiders (5-3-1) advanced to face Hawai'i Prep (9-5) in the first round of the tournament today at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Complex. Seabury Hall ended its season at 3-11.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.