Call it twin telepathy — or maybe it’s just genuine honesty.

When asked if her successful freshman soccer season at the University of Denver this fall came as a surprise, Liv Moritz’s answer was identical to her sister’s response: Yes.

“It surprised me a little bit because we’re from the mountains and you don’t really play soccer up here, so I thought compared to all the city girls, she would have had a harder time,” twin sister Kjersti said from a training camp at Copper Mountain, her November home as a second-year U.S. Alpine Ski Team D-Team member.

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Meanwhile, back in Denver wrapping up classes before Thanksgiving break, Liv, a first-year D-Team member emailed, “Yes, I definitely surprised myself!”

The Summit League Newcomer of the Year led her team in shots on goal and finished tied for second in the conference in points (18) and fourth in goals (7).

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“Going into the season, I was not expecting to play,” she said.

“So, my mindset going in was to challenge myself with a higher level of soccer and try my best to improve little by little every day.”

With the NorAm speed season starting at Copper Mountain this week and the tech calendar kicking off at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, on Dec. 13-16, Moritz — one of five Vail Mountain School and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumni on the U.S. women’s team this winter — hopes to keep the momentum going as she trades Pioneer colors on the pitch for stars and stripes on the slope.

“This entire season, I want to have moments that I can say I am proud of,” the 19-year-old said. “For this to be a successful campaign, I’d say I would continue to enjoy both sports as much as I always have, and continue to improve.”

Switching the focus to the slopes

Moritz said she’s grown since leading VMS to a 13-2 record last spring. The dual-sport D-I athlete made a splash in her first college game, scoring the Pioneer’s only goal in a 1-1 tie against Colorado State.

“I feel like I’ve just been able to push myself to do things I didn’t know I could do,” Moritz said, adding that her “intensity” and “drive to improve” increased each day of the season.

“I felt like I was constantly trying to prove to myself that I could do hard things I’ve never been able to do in the past.”

Moritz racked up a Summit League offensive player of the week award after notching a goal in a 6-0 win over Colgate on Sept. 7 and tallying both Pioneer scores in a 2-0 win over Oregon on Sept. 10. She was also ranked 34th in the Top Drawer Women’s Soccer Top-100 Freshman midseason team as the Pioneers earned the No. 1 seed in the Summit League tournament.

“One of our early-season goals was to make other teams never want to play us because we were going to be the most fit, most relentless and driven team on the field,” Moritz said.

Despite checking those and other team targets, the Pioneers ended up losing to No. 4 Omaha in a semifinal-round shootout.

“Obviously, we wanted to make the NCAA tournament, but any team is beatable on any day,” Moritz reflected. “We unfortunately felt like the result didn’t reflect how the game went or how we played, but in the end, it’s about scoring goals.”

Moritz transitioned to skiing a week after the final buzzer. “Luckily, Loveland has been getting some snow so I was able to get on snow pretty soon after,” she said.

She restarted her ski-specific strength regimen in the gym and got on snow at Loveland. Heading into Thanksgiving week, she’d accumulated six days of slalom practice and two GS sessions.

“When I just started skiing, it felt like my skis were more in control of me,” she said.

“My body is still pretty trained for running, and skiing requires a whole different set of muscles and movement patterns, but I’m excited to get adjusted.”

Moritz joined the D-Team in Park City in June, lifting with skiers in the morning and adding on DU-prescribed soccer workouts afterward. She said much of her recent six-week break from school has been spent with the D-Team again at Copper.

“On snow in general, my personal objectives have been to adjust to skiing so that I feel like I can make changes to my skiing in any way,” she said of her late-November goals.

Moritz, whose mom was a skier and rugby player at Dartmouth and dad played soccer and skied at the University of Colorado, said she plans to race with the U.S. Ski Team at NorAms and compete for DU at university races in-between.

She finished last season on a high note, placing third, fifth and 10th in the national championship super-G, slalom and giant slalom respectively. She also took second-place in the slalom at the Whistler NorAm on March 28. This year, her goals are to make the world junior team and “embrace every part of ski racing, including all of the struggle.”

“I’ve always struggled with burnout and balance,” she said. “I know there’s not a ton of consistency in this sport, so my challenge for myself is to embrace the struggle so I can grow and learn.”

And perhaps surprise herself — and others — a little more.