Next month Tina Taseska and Laura Gray will be teammates touring Argentina with the Australian women's under-21 hockey side, but this Sunday the two will go head-to-head at the National Hockey Centre.
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They were selected in the Jillaroos squad in January then six weeks ago were named for the two-week South American trip, the first in the lead-up to next year's Junior World Cup in Chile.
The trip will be the first international tour for Taseska, 19 and Gray, 20, as they both chase the footsteps of their Canberra Strikers teammates Anna Flanagan and Edwina Bone for an eventual spot on the Hockeyroos roster.
"I definitely want to aim for the Hockeyroos as the next step," Taseska said, having taken up hockey aged four, after her mum found a flyer for minkey in a newspaper.
"It's been great playing alongside players like Eddie and Flanno [in the AHL] ... and getting that experience," Taseska said.
For Gray, who has been commuting from Goulburn to play in Canberra for most of the past six years, the Argentina trip will also be her first venture overseas, and one she thinks will give them a better idea of what it takes at the top level of hockey and make her "hungry for it a little bit more".
But before international duties call, Central will need Taseska on duty to defend Gray, the leading goal scorer in the top women's Capital League, in what could well be the grand final preview.
Gray scored 27 times for second-placed Tuggeranong Valley this season, and not even a seven-goal haul from Central's Tonina Staunton in the final round could bridge the gap to the prolific Gray, who was keen to win back the leading-scorer crown.
"It's something I aim for every year ... I won it two years ago, then I was injured for a bit last year, so this year I really wanted to win it back."
For all her individual efforts though, it was Central which finished top of the ladder, having scored 105 goals and lost just one game out of 18, and are coming into the first semi-final off a confidence-boosting 14-0 win.
But Gray is less concerned about that record.
"When we played each other earlier on in the year it was a 1-1 draw, so we were pretty even, then the next time ... we were pretty under-strength and they beat us, so it will be a close one," Gray said.
Taseska expects she will have the job on Gray at least part of the game.
"There's probably a bit more competition between us two more than anything, so it should be interesting to see how that goes," Taseska said.
"There's always some good banter … it's good fun to be playing against your mates as well.
"There's a bit of a rivalry going with the top-two going head-to-head."
Capital League 1 semi-finals at National Hockey Centre, Lyneham
Men's - Saturday: Central v Wests, 4pm; Goulburn v United, 5.45pm
Women's - Sunday: Central v Tuggeranong Valley, 4pm; ANU v St Patricks, 5.45pm
