NAMPA, Idaho – Hang out with Jake Levine and Daniel Brendel for five minutes and you can see why the entire Northwest Nazarene men's soccer team gravitates to them.

Brendel, a sophomore from Rodgau, Germany, and Levine, a sophomore from Spokane, Wash., hit it off as friends about halfway through their freshman year.

Now they could star in a buddy comedy.

"They are the two kids who really drive the personality of the team," NNU coach Joel DeLass said. "When the two of them are in the same room, they are typically the ones carrying the conversation. Brendel keeps Jake grounded a little more. Jake is very outgoing."

The two carry more than just a bond on the soccer field. They also survived a nasty car accident coming back from Spokane at the end of Spring Break.

They ended up missing about a week of classes, though their teachers worked with them to make sure they were good to go academically.

"They gave us lots of extensions and helped us out a lot," Brendel said. "That was actually super nice. We felt really welcomed and loved and appreciated."

Returning to the soccer field took a lot longer, though.

Both missed significant time in the spring and early summer, though Levine eventually played for the Spokane Shadow earning a national player of the week in the process. Brendel, who returned home to Germany, was able to play eventually after going through physical therapy. He said the first two months of trying to drive after the wreck were difficult as he was anxious, though that feeling has since passed.

The accident has helped strengthen their friendship and they are roommates in the sophomore dorm this year.

"After all the crap we've been through, we have to be friends. I don't even like him," a laughing Levine said.

Levine has gone out of his way to befriend the international players on the team, helping make them comfortable in their transition to the states. He is also friends with Rafael Junqueira (Brazil), Alex Mitrovic (Serbia) and Linus Mansson (Sweden), who played at NNU last season.

"They are very social," Junqueira said. "They talk to everybody and make jokes. Jake is very outgoing, very social and likes to talk."

While the pair certainly like to goof off after practice, in the locker room and around campus, they are all business on the field.

Levine scored a team-leading five goals last season, while Brendel was fourth in minutes played.

"In a game situation, they are both really competitive, fiery and want to win," DeLass said. "They are both pretty intense players on the field."

And big jokesters off of it.