Host Barbados won the nightcap of the rainy doubleheader, getting a Rashida Williams deflection of a Ramuel Miller in the 35th minute to defeat the Dominica 1-0 and take the early group lead.
Lopez scored in the 13th and 76th minutes, negating leads earned by Aruba on goals by Raymond Baten in the sixth minute, and again in the 30th on a tally by Rensy Barradas.
Daylong rain made for a soft and saturated field at Kensington Oval. Baten, however, put Aruba ahead with a free kick before Lopez equalized seven minutes later by capitalizing on a defensive gaffe.
Aruba pounced on a Dominican Republic miscue to retake the lead when an attempted clearance by Heinz Barmettler fell to Barradas and he converted.
Lopez deadlocked the match with 24 minutes remaining, running on to a loose ball and chipping over goalkeeper Eric Abdul who was off his line.
Earlier, Williams helped Barbados control the midfield and nearly helped the "Bajan Rockets" to a second goal, feeding Tristan Parris who shot wide just before halftime.
Williams set up chances for Parris and Mario Harte in the second half, which also saw the Chad Bertrand get the Dominican Republic's best opportunities. He was able to get behind defender Barry Skeete with only goalkeeper Jason Boxill to beat in the 61st minute, but lost his footing.
Nine minutes later Bertrand set up Kelrick Walter, who shot wide.
"It's definitely a start in the right direction. But we have two more games to play so we will take a look at the good and bad we did tonight," Barbados coach Colin Forde said.
