By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – New look, new mindset. Bedford North Lawrence coach Jordan Himmelspach, moved up from the middle-school team to guide the varsity program, is bringing a team and a competitive approach with him.
Himmelspach succeeds Bret Roberts as the head coach of the Stars. He takes over a squad that went 4-11-2 last season, a program that barely survived extinction just a few seasons ago, and has not won a postseason game since 2017. That’s all ancient history. What matters now is the level of expectations – even for a roster that will be freshman heavy.
The Stars, who could start nine freshmen out of the 11 on the turf, want to win. Not tomorrow, not after breakfast (to quote warden villain Samuel Norton from Shawshank Redemption) – now.
“They’re hungry,” Himmelspach said. “We’ve been out here, they’re dedicated to the sport and improving as a team. We have some good leaders, so I think we have what it takes.
“We want to keep expectations realistic, but I’m expecting to play competitively instead of coming home with our heads down. It should be a good building year. We have very high hopes for this team.
“Right now we might be starting nine freshmen. That group has been playing together for three years, mostly in middle school, and they are familiar with my style.”
The reason for the optimism is success with the middle school team. That group will join three returning seniors (Caelyn Burke, Madelyn Mason and Lily King) on a roster with 21 athletes.
Himmelspach plans to line up the Stars in a 4-4-2 formation and attack with patience.
“I like to play a high press,” he said. “The idea is to control the midfield and control the offensive half. I’d like to see a goalie that doesn’t work a lot. I like to slow the play down once we get it, make sure we’re not rushing and look for our offense. We spent a lot of time on ball control and having the confidence to get our heads up and connect on the pass.
“I’m expecting to prevent some scores coming in, get some shots on the board, and compete.”
BNL will scrimmage against Brown County on Aug. 13, then open the regular season on Aug. 15 at home against Silver Creek.
