Two far-flung pairs of soccer shoes are set to be reunited today.

Hawaii freshman Lillie French wears an orange-and-yellow-colored cleat on her right foot during games, and one of the green-and-blue variety on her left.

Her identical twin, Sophia, sports the mismatched pairs on opposite feet when she laces up for the Idaho Vandals — who happen to be the opponent of the Rainbow Wahine for the opener of a potentially stormy Outrigger Soccer Classic final series.

The mirrored midfielders from Lake Oswego, Ore., went their separate ways after stellar careers at Lakeridge High. Both took recruiting visits together to UH and Idaho, but the Frenches were drawn to different aspects of the two programs.

“If we’re going to go away from each other, we should keep something that helps us stay connected. We thought the shoes were perfect, because they look good together,” UH’s French said. “It’s a reminder of her right there with me all the time.”

As it so happened, their schools, former WAC foes, were marked for a nonconference date in the sisters’ first collegiate year.

UH seeks to stay unbeaten and keep up its best start since 2007, while Idaho of the Big Sky is dangerous, having returned all 11 starters and practically all its scoring from a 14-win campaign. UH follows against Saint Mary’s of the West Coast Conference in a quick turnaround Friday.

Twin confrontation

There’s a good chance Sophia and Lillie, 5-foot-8 rotation players at midfield, will go head-to-head for a ball today. If that happens … look out.

“We’re definitely very competitive,” Sophia said in a phone interview this week. “There might be some tugging and pulling of shirts or something on the field. I dunno. Just kidding.”

That last part was given in a tone suggesting she was kidding about kidding.

“One of us is going to be disappointed, because someone’s going to lose,” Lillie said. “But we’re sisters so we can’t hate each other for long.”

Lillie has played outer/attacking mid for UH, making three starts and one reserve appearance. Sophia plays holding (defensive) mid and has notched two assists in two games.

Innate knowledge

They last played against each other when they were 12 or 13, in club ball. The Frenches have innate knowledge of the other’s abilities.

“She’s a tricky player,” Sophia said. “So she’ll come at you slow, then she’ll tap the ball right by you and speed past you. Her speed is insane.”

Said Lillie, “I know she’s really good off corner kicks, scoring headers, so I might try to mark her and not let her do that.”

UH coach Michele Nagamine recalled only one instance of sisters squaring off in her college knowledge: Meghan Fuller (Hawaii Pacific) and Amber Fuller (Hawaii) in a 2011 game that went 6-2 to UH.

This spring, UH basketball’s Quincy Smith played his younger brother Kendall of Cal State Northridge twice.

But these are identical twins who joked about swapping jerseys and seeing if anyone would notice.

“I didn’t know twins would be agreeable to splitting up like that, (what) with the shared DNA,” Nagamine said. “It seems like Sophie’s caught her groove at Idaho and Lillie has here, starting as a true freshman. I’m happy for both of them.”

Their parents and younger sister are flying to Oahu for the special occasion.

Stormy conditions

Nagamine said the Outrigger tournament is going ahead in the face of two storms, Tropical Storm Madeline and Hurricane Lester, bearing down on the islands. She said the City and County’s parks crew have been supportive and won’t close WPSS unless it’s “dire straights.”

“Well, umbrellas don’t work well in hurricanes, so bring your rain jacket,” Nagamine said. “And you know what, let’s just take our suck-it-up pill and cheer (your) hearts out, because it’s going to be a really entertaining match, rain or shine.”

Saint Mary’s has played all Big West opposition so far, dropping games to Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.