When Jake Wong and Jessica Wong go to the coffee shop, the order is the same: iced coffee, three pumps white mocha, three pumps toffee nut and cream.
When they play sports for Grand Canyon, the uniform number is the same: 24.
Whether it is Mom calling it "God's plan" or Dad calling it "divine intervention," the unexpected turn of the siblings being GCU student-athletes together only has tightened and aligned them more.
Jessica was committed to Arizona State soccer until a coaching change reopened her options a week before signing day, and the chance she always wanted to play and stay close to Jake at GCU came. Now, as Jake prepares for his final home game Friday night in the ace's draft-eligible year, the Arizona natives are appreciating how much this school year has meant -- from savoring Jake's 8-1 season to Jake consoling Jessica as she found out that she had torn an anterior cruciate ligament this spring.
"There certainly is a plan for each and every one of us, and it just so happened that we would end up at Grand Canyon," Jake said. "It's really cool how it worked out. I just know I'm right where I need to be."
Jake has exceeded expectations to become an ace who has pro scouts filling the GCU Ballpark rows behind home plate each time he takes the mound with a 90-plus mph fastball. Jessica became a starting midfielder in her freshman year, going from 18 minutes combined in the Lopes' first three games to averaging 60.3 minutes over the next 18 games.
"I honestly don't know if I could make it without him, and I can't imagine making it the rest of my three years here without him," Jessica said. "Having him be there for me has helped me a lot. I should've taken more advantage of it while I could. He definitely did his big brother role."
Jake and Jessica are two years apart, but they might as well be twins with a high school brother, Josh, for as similar as they are. They are admittedly best friends who have dinner together regularly. Both live on campus, but Jessica spends just as much time at Jake's place, even if it means just doing homework and watching television together like when they were younger.
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From left to right: Jake, Jessica, and Josh in their baseball gear.
Their humble, kind personalities resemble one another but so does the competitive fire. That came from being the children of a mother, Amy Yanish, who was an all-conference basketball player at Northern Arizona and a father, Pete Wong, who played soccer at Kent State.
Family games of Monopoly had to be banned for lack of being able to complete them. Yahtzee and shuffleboard involve more smack talk than a football field.
"It gets nasty sometimes," Yanish said. "Inevitably, I think Jess wins all the board games and Yahtzee and we're all mad."
There is family video of Jake hitting wiffleballs inside the house at age 2. He put on his uniform three hours before Little League games. Baseball was always part of his future, but a pitching specialty did not play out until high school, when he was not the Hamilton ace. Jake kept progressing to draw interest from GCU and eased into collegiate baseball as a freshman reliever.
Jessica actually received college recruiting interest earlier but kept telling Jake that she would love to join him at GCU.
The turn of events brought them together and turned their brother's and parents' wardrobe to purple. Yanish inconsolably paces the GCU Ballpark platform when her son is pitching. Jake and Josh encourage Jessica to knock over opponents at her soccer games.
"She's a fiery competitor just like me, so it's cool to see," Jake said. "I like good, aggressive play. I know she's probably the toughest on the field, so I just enjoy when she lets them have it."
Jessica wound up with a whole baseball team looking after her once she suffered the torn ACL during a spring game. Jake was by her side when she got the news and became a doting counselor and helpful chauffeur.
"I don't think I could have painted a better picture for a brother-sister relationship," said Pete, who joked that the photo session of his kids wearing the same number for the same school is like a Hallmark card.
Yanish agreed, saying, "You try not to brag, but I couldn't consider myself more blessed than to have all three of them. They're such good, caring people on top of the all the other stuff they have going for them."
The year together zipped by for the family. Jake, a projected high amateur draft pick, takes the GCU Ballpark mound for the final time this season Friday night with the Lopes holding onto a one-game Western Athletic Conference lead over visiting Sacramento State. In two weeks, his team will play in the WAC Tournament for the first time, just as Jessica's team did when it became the Lopes' first WAC Tournament team in the fall.
"It's been awesome," Jake said. "Me and Jessica have a great relationship with each other and our younger brother. Having her close on campus is really neat. It's not something every sibling gets to experience. I wanted her to come here and it just worked out."
Jessica knows the joy of watching him pitch will turn emotional in his next few starts.
"It's super-cool to see him get the recognition he deserves," Jessica said. "He's been there for me and I'm really excited for his future. I definitely am going to miss him, but I'll be there wherever he goes."
 Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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