Jones-Lane rivalry has
added meaning for Rios twins
By Patrick Z. McGavin
On a vivid and beautiful night in May, 2018, the professional soccer pitch then known as Toyota Park, allowed the perfect backdrop to the Chicago Public League city championship game.
The combatants in the 20,000-seat Bridgeview stadium were the usual performers: Lane and Young, the teams that shaped the dominant narrative of Public League girls soccer.
In the front row of the Lane cheering section massed the family of Lisa Rios, a talented freshman, playing in her first city final as a reserve midfielder.
In the 71st minute, Rios made her move by controlling a ball in the middle of the vast space and playing a perfect through-ball on the right wing that sophomore forward Leigh Ann Lindgren timed perfectly with a deep run and elegant finish.
“I just saw Leigh Ann running in, and I waited for her to make it a little closer to the goal, and I sent it through,” Rios said after the game.
Lindgren’s goal gave the Indians a 1-0 victory and their fourth-consecutive city title.
The Rios family section voiced their loud and ecstatic approval. The most satisfying came from Lisa’s identical twin sister Laura.
Naturally, as twins, the two have been virtually inseparable, with Lisa the older sister by two minutes.
In matters of soccer, their relationship is a little more complicated. Laura Rios is a rival as a starting midfielder at Jones. The two just completed their junior year at their respective schools.
Lisa owns the 2-0 personal record over Laura on the basis of the Indians’ Premier Division wins over the Eagles during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
“It is really fun to play against her,” Lisa Rios said. “I always tell everyone in our family to make sure that is the game they go to.”
Laura Rios admits to a mixture of strange sensations watching her mirror opposite in a different color uniform, actively engaged against her own interests.
“It is more funny than weird,” Laura Rios said. “I try my best not to run into her. I don’t like running into her when we play.
“We still get along, and we talk.”
The Rios sisters are two of the best players in the city. Jones coach Derek Bylsma praised Laura Rios’ performance in training before the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the season.
Bylsma looked for Laura to make a breakthrough and expected her to be one of the top three or four players on a loaded team.
Last year as a sophomore, Laura Rios scored four goals and posted 12 assists. At Lane, Lisa was a high energy and impactful player off the bench who scored seven goals and added seven assists.
The two are each two-time members of Chicagoland Soccer’s prestigious All-State Watch List team for the top talents in the class of 2021.
The twins are the youngest in a family of four sisters from a soccer-obsessed family. Their father played in his native Mexico.
Their two sisters, more than a generation older, also played. One was a standout at Kelly on the southwest side. She was set to play collegiately at Robert Morris until she suffered a serious knee injury.
“We would always go to their games when we were little, first my dad when he played in the men’s leagues and then my sister,” Lisa Rios said.
“They taught us how to play, and we learned to love it.”
The twins are now beneficiaries of a new game and a new era, with the explosion in participation numbers and the rise of elite city club programs.
They began playing in organized play at the age of 5 and were playing in club programs a couple of years later. Being twins, they naturally did everything together.
Even most of their classes in grammar school were together.
“We actually both wanted to go to Lane,” Lisa Rios said. “Laura placed Jones as her top choice, and she got into there. I got into Lane, and we sort of went along with it. Eventually I have to get used to living without her.
“It’s good practice for that.”
Lane had the tradition of being the city’s premier school for girls’ soccer. Jones was the insurgent.
Laura Rios liked that underdog quality.
“I would have gone to Lane, but I stayed at Jones because I was really excited by what the soccer program did, going from the lower divisions all the way to the top. It has been fun progressing with them.
“I would never change that.”
The natural solidarity and closeness of the two is a constant. Social scientists have spent years studying twins on the matter of nature and nurture. Even when apart, the two feel very much wired into the consciousness of the other.
Their playing styles are similar but not exact.
“When I have the ball, I like to do moves and trick and stuff, but I really prefer to make the safe move and play with my team and open up the field,” Laura Rios said.
“I like to work more with my teammates than myself.”
That is reflected in her 3-1 ratio of assists to goals last year. Lisa’s ratio was 1-1. That reflects her own more aggressive and attacking style.
“I would describe myself as more technical,” Lisa Rios said. “I am probably a little more selfish. I love racing to the ball and dribbling.
“I just like chasing the ball.”
Like her sister, Laura feels somewhat liberated by playing in a different program. The separation frees her from the constant and inevitable forms of comparison and contrast.
Her individuality has blossomed.
“When I am on the field, that is the only thing I focus on,” Laura said. “I forget about everything else. It is fun, and I like it a lot.
“The way I play, I like to take people on. I go through one or two people, and I make a pass to a teammate, and we score. I love being part of that.”
At Lane, Lisa Rios entered a somewhat daunting scenario as a first-year player joining a three-time city champion program.
She had to prove herself.
“Going into high school, I was a lot more nervous,” Lisa said. “I am a bit more shy, and it takes me longer opening up to new people. After a while, I got used to it.
“It was nice having my own independence.”
Creating the game-winning assist in the city championship her freshman year empowered her.
“After that I felt like I belonged more on the team,” Lisa said. “All the players at Lane are so talented, and I was afraid I would not fit in.
“I think I have grown.”
Lane and Jones played in the city title game in 2017, the year before the twins began high school. During this unprecedented spring, the two put the rivalry on hold.
They stayed sharp and connected by practicing together, developing their skills and hoping for the chance to showcase their rapidly developing games.
Laura felt strongly Jones was on the verge of ending Lane’s hammer lock on the city title.
“I actually thought we were going to win the city this year,” Laura said. “There were a few seniors who left, but we had some new freshmen, and they were really good.
“I really liked our team a lot.”
The norm changed when Lisa chose to enforce a self-imposed hiatus when she was just beginning to play. Burnt out and exhausted, she gave up the game and believed she needed a break.
She stopped playing for a year, thinking her time with the game was over. While Laura continued, Lisa began to miss the game and experience but primarily, the chance to be with her sister.
“I got bored being at home,” Lisa said.
The only upside to their lost junior ‘pandemic year’ is knowing they have another chance to impress college recruiters.
The two would like to play at the next level.
Laura asked her coach to invite colleges out to their games in the spring before the pandemic. It was particularly heartbreaking not getting that chance.
The two went through the shutdown together, from opposite sides. About eight miles separate the two schools.
“If we get the offer, we definitely want to play,” Lisa said.
They are always bound together, by biology, family and sensibility.
“After everything is done, after school, after the games or practice, we just come back together,” Lisa said.
“Like we never separated.”
added meaning for Rios twins
By Patrick Z. McGavin
On a vivid and beautiful night in May, 2018, the professional soccer pitch then known as Toyota Park, allowed the perfect backdrop to the Chicago Public League city championship game.
The combatants in the 20,000-seat Bridgeview stadium were the usual performers: Lane and Young, the teams that shaped the dominant narrative of Public League girls soccer.
In the front row of the Lane cheering section massed the family of Lisa Rios, a talented freshman, playing in her first city final as a reserve midfielder.
In the 71st minute, Rios made her move by controlling a ball in the middle of the vast space and playing a perfect through-ball on the right wing that sophomore forward Leigh Ann Lindgren timed perfectly with a deep run and elegant finish.
“I just saw Leigh Ann running in, and I waited for her to make it a little closer to the goal, and I sent it through,” Rios said after the game.
Lindgren’s goal gave the Indians a 1-0 victory and their fourth-consecutive city title.
The Rios family section voiced their loud and ecstatic approval. The most satisfying came from Lisa’s identical twin sister Laura.
Naturally, as twins, the two have been virtually inseparable, with Lisa the older sister by two minutes.
In matters of soccer, their relationship is a little more complicated. Laura Rios is a rival as a starting midfielder at Jones. The two just completed their junior year at their respective schools.
Lisa owns the 2-0 personal record over Laura on the basis of the Indians’ Premier Division wins over the Eagles during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
“It is really fun to play against her,” Lisa Rios said. “I always tell everyone in our family to make sure that is the game they go to.”
Laura Rios admits to a mixture of strange sensations watching her mirror opposite in a different color uniform, actively engaged against her own interests.
“It is more funny than weird,” Laura Rios said. “I try my best not to run into her. I don’t like running into her when we play.
“We still get along, and we talk.”
The Rios sisters are two of the best players in the city. Jones coach Derek Bylsma praised Laura Rios’ performance in training before the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the season.
Bylsma looked for Laura to make a breakthrough and expected her to be one of the top three or four players on a loaded team.
Last year as a sophomore, Laura Rios scored four goals and posted 12 assists. At Lane, Lisa was a high energy and impactful player off the bench who scored seven goals and added seven assists.
The two are each two-time members of Chicagoland Soccer’s prestigious All-State Watch List team for the top talents in the class of 2021.
The twins are the youngest in a family of four sisters from a soccer-obsessed family. Their father played in his native Mexico.
Their two sisters, more than a generation older, also played. One was a standout at Kelly on the southwest side. She was set to play collegiately at Robert Morris until she suffered a serious knee injury.
“We would always go to their games when we were little, first my dad when he played in the men’s leagues and then my sister,” Lisa Rios said.
“They taught us how to play, and we learned to love it.”
The twins are now beneficiaries of a new game and a new era, with the explosion in participation numbers and the rise of elite city club programs.
They began playing in organized play at the age of 5 and were playing in club programs a couple of years later. Being twins, they naturally did everything together.
Even most of their classes in grammar school were together.
“We actually both wanted to go to Lane,” Lisa Rios said. “Laura placed Jones as her top choice, and she got into there. I got into Lane, and we sort of went along with it. Eventually I have to get used to living without her.
“It’s good practice for that.”
Lane had the tradition of being the city’s premier school for girls’ soccer. Jones was the insurgent.
Laura Rios liked that underdog quality.
“I would have gone to Lane, but I stayed at Jones because I was really excited by what the soccer program did, going from the lower divisions all the way to the top. It has been fun progressing with them.
“I would never change that.”
The natural solidarity and closeness of the two is a constant. Social scientists have spent years studying twins on the matter of nature and nurture. Even when apart, the two feel very much wired into the consciousness of the other.
Their playing styles are similar but not exact.
“When I have the ball, I like to do moves and trick and stuff, but I really prefer to make the safe move and play with my team and open up the field,” Laura Rios said.
“I like to work more with my teammates than myself.”
That is reflected in her 3-1 ratio of assists to goals last year. Lisa’s ratio was 1-1. That reflects her own more aggressive and attacking style.
“I would describe myself as more technical,” Lisa Rios said. “I am probably a little more selfish. I love racing to the ball and dribbling.
“I just like chasing the ball.”
Like her sister, Laura feels somewhat liberated by playing in a different program. The separation frees her from the constant and inevitable forms of comparison and contrast.
Her individuality has blossomed.
“When I am on the field, that is the only thing I focus on,” Laura said. “I forget about everything else. It is fun, and I like it a lot.
“The way I play, I like to take people on. I go through one or two people, and I make a pass to a teammate, and we score. I love being part of that.”
At Lane, Lisa Rios entered a somewhat daunting scenario as a first-year player joining a three-time city champion program.
She had to prove herself.
“Going into high school, I was a lot more nervous,” Lisa said. “I am a bit more shy, and it takes me longer opening up to new people. After a while, I got used to it.
“It was nice having my own independence.”
Creating the game-winning assist in the city championship her freshman year empowered her.
“After that I felt like I belonged more on the team,” Lisa said. “All the players at Lane are so talented, and I was afraid I would not fit in.
“I think I have grown.”
Lane and Jones played in the city title game in 2017, the year before the twins began high school. During this unprecedented spring, the two put the rivalry on hold.
They stayed sharp and connected by practicing together, developing their skills and hoping for the chance to showcase their rapidly developing games.
Laura felt strongly Jones was on the verge of ending Lane’s hammer lock on the city title.
“I actually thought we were going to win the city this year,” Laura said. “There were a few seniors who left, but we had some new freshmen, and they were really good.
“I really liked our team a lot.”
The norm changed when Lisa chose to enforce a self-imposed hiatus when she was just beginning to play. Burnt out and exhausted, she gave up the game and believed she needed a break.
She stopped playing for a year, thinking her time with the game was over. While Laura continued, Lisa began to miss the game and experience but primarily, the chance to be with her sister.
“I got bored being at home,” Lisa said.
The only upside to their lost junior ‘pandemic year’ is knowing they have another chance to impress college recruiters.
The two would like to play at the next level.
Laura asked her coach to invite colleges out to their games in the spring before the pandemic. It was particularly heartbreaking not getting that chance.
The two went through the shutdown together, from opposite sides. About eight miles separate the two schools.
“If we get the offer, we definitely want to play,” Lisa said.
They are always bound together, by biology, family and sensibility.
“After everything is done, after school, after the games or practice, we just come back together,” Lisa said.
“Like we never separated.”