Kapinos twins look to help Rampage turn up the defense

CEDAR RAPIDS - Stung by an 0-5 start, the Cedar Rapids Rampage are looking to get defensive.

The Major Arena Soccer League expansion franchise has allowed an average of nearly 10 goals a game this season, and any large defensive undertaking will likely feature the Kapinos twins – defender Jayme and goalkeeper Joey.

'We have to fight for one another,” said Joey Kapinos, who will try and help Cedar Rapids earn its first franchise victory against the Milwaukee Wave (4-3) Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center. 'We just get caught sometimes ball-watching or not tracing our man, so defensively it's just been a struggle. … We have to be more focused. We have to take more pride in defending.”

The 26-year-old identical twins arrived just before the start of the season to bolster a roster in need of additional veterans. They were originally set to play for one of the league's other expansion teams in Hartford, Conn., but the franchise was grounded before the season began when it was learned that one of its owners was mired in legal troubles, including a felony conviction for embezzlement.

'It was something no one could have thought of,” Jayme Kapinos said. 'It looked promising, but we did what we had to do and we got out of there as soon as possible and luckily (we joined) Cedar Rapids - a great organization, great owners, great coaches.”

The twosome learned the sport at the foot of older brother Matt Kapinos and have often been a package deal going all the way back to their amateur days starring at Ludlow (Mass.) High School and Southern New Hampshire University. Joey Kapinos played in Detroit for the Waza Flo during the 2012-13 season, and Jayme joined him the following year.

'It was tough my first year at Detroit,” Joey Kapinos said. 'He wasn't playing on the team so it was a shellshock for me. I kind of had to get in tune with everybody else and let other people be that barrier, that teammate of mine that I didn't necessarily ever have because I always had somebody there. So the first year he wasn't there, it was tough.”

Last season, they teamed up again for the now-defunct Rochester Lancers. This season is the third in professional indoor soccer for Jayme Kapinos, the fourth for Joey. Their often-unspoken communication on the field - be it a head nod, a glance or even a whistle - stems from a lifetime of playing alongside each other.

'21 years playing with each other is a long time,” Jayme Kapinos said. 'We know each other's tendencies, we know each other's weaknesses and our strengths together as a unit. … We don't do it for a huge salary. We do it because we love it.”

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com