Yet, the Barone brothers are identical twins.

“It’s definitely nice to be the older one,” Domenic says with a smile.

“He always brings it up,” Mark said. “He says he’s older, wiser and just those kinds of jokes.”

But a 120-second age difference doesn’t get in the way of the brothers being best friends and fiery teammates on the field.

The 19-year-old sophomore duo are the two starting strikers for this year’s MSU men’s soccer team and both recorded goals in the Spartans’ season opener Friday.

While both have differing styles on the field, the brothers have never been apart for more than 24 hours and have played soccer together their whole lives, creating chemistry that seems to put them a step ahead of the opposition.

The Barone twins got their start in soccer at a young age thanks to their father, Giuseppe, who was a semi-professional soccer player and encouraged the two to start kicking the ball when they were three years old.

Giuseppe Barone’s soccer career led him to cross paths with John Conlon, the eventual coach of the East Kentwood varsity soccer team.

Conlon stayed friends with Giuseppe Barone and watched the Barone twins grow up around the game of soccer. But the turning point came when he watched them play an indoor match when they were in sixth grade.

“Their indoor team won by like six or seven goals and I think they scored all of the goals that game,” Conlon said. “I went home and told my wife that I had just watched two of the best players I’d ever seen at that age. They were light years ahead of everyone else.”

When the time came to join the high school ranks, both brothers made East Kentwood High School’s varsity soccer team as freshmen, although they would have different roles to start their high school careers.

Mark Barone was the workhorse who could play any position on the field. His versatility led him to give up his striker role and drop back to be a defender, a position his high school team needed.

Domenic Barone, on the other hand, was a flashy forward who saw limited playing time his freshman season due to an experienced crew of upperclassmen strikers ahead of him.

Both players came into their element in their middle years of high school, with Domenic Barone setting a school record with 23 goals in his sophomore year and Mark Barone moving back to an attacking role on the team.

In their senior season at East Kentwood, Conlon named both brothers team captains and moved them to the midfield position — two moves he believes played a large part in East Kentwood winning the school’s first ever Division 1 soccer championship and the first Division 1 soccer championship for the west side of Michigan.

“They play off each other as well as any other two kids I have ever seen,” Conlon said. “Together, they were brilliant. But if I played them as forwards, we were depending on other people getting them the ball. So we played them in the midfield where they would be around the ball the whole game.”

Domenic finished his high school career by breaking nearly every offensive record at East Kentwood. He was a three-time all-state selection and scored 75 goals and recorded 50 assists.

Mark was selected all-state in his junior and senior seasons and started 102 games, which was every possible start except a game where he received a red card.

“They are both passionate about the game, great teammates and some of the best competitors I’ve ever had,” Conlon said. “They are two of my favorite kids I’ve ever coached.”

When it came time to start weighing college options, the brothers had two requirements: They wanted to go to the same school and stay close to home so their extended family could make it to most games.

And the MSU coaching staff was more than happy to accommodate both requests.

“Bringing both of them in wasn’t an issue because we knew they could both play and both contribute right away,” MSU head coach Damon Rensing said.

With the Spartans graduating last year’s duo of forwards Doug DeMartin and Louis Stephens III, who recorded 21 of the Spartans 36 goals last season, the Barone brothers are being looked at to step up offensively.

Junior goalkeeper Avery Steinlage said he’s seen an improvement from both players in the offseason, as they prepared for their bigger role on the team.

“From a goalie standpoint, they both hit the ball so hard,” Steinlage said. “They both put great pace on the ball and place it pretty much anywhere they want. They are very powerful attackers.”

Rensing said the chemistry between the brothers has eased their transition to the college game and given them an edge on competitors.

“They are making the adjustment to the college level,” Rensing said. “What we like about them is that they are soccer players; they know the game and they are very competitive. They have good personalities on the field and they always impact games.”