By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Remember 1986? Of course, if that’s the case, that means age has crept up, in unceremonious fashion. That was a year of disasters (Challenger, Chernobyl) and cultural phenomena (Top Gun, Madonna) that still define society.
That was also the year Bedford North Lawrence was introduced to the world’s game – soccer. Starting as a club sport, with Sandy Zehr spearheading it as the first coach, BNL later made the move to a varsity sport when the IHSAA officially sanctioned it in 1994.
BNL will celebrate its 40th anniversary – known as the ruby anniversary, for those needing gift ideas – with a fresh start, with a new coach that wants to take what the ruby symbolizes (passion and power) and base his program on that foundation.
Reeve Arce, a former Marine who looks the type, takes over the Stars for 2026, succeeding Ryan Otis after he guided the program for four seasons. Arce preaches a five-pillar approach to success, and he’s got a young team (75 percent freshmen and sophomores on the roster) to mold.
“The main tenant is being a better version of yourself,” said Arce, who played soccer at Lafayette Harrison. “The goal is building each other up, lifting each other up, taking accountability for their own mistakes. Even if they don’t make a mistake, they recognize how they could do something better. Everyone makes mistakes, don’t dwell on it. They’re a brotherhood.”
Even with the loss of five seniors following a 6-10-1 campaign that ended with a sectional final loss to Jeffersonville, plus the transfer of scoring leader Noah Childers to Bloomington North, and young talent coming up from the successful middle school program, there are returning veterans. The senior class includes goalie Owen Williams, defender Raiden Todd and Zaden Roodschild, the juniors feature Saeben Arce, Weston Holtz and Ian Wilcher.
From that core group, the Stars need to find scorers.
“Our style will be very fast moving, controlling the ball,” Arce said. “Last year they played a little bit of kickball and turned it over. We’re working hard on possession and maintaining control.
”The offense comes from the middle of the field. You can’t park a striker up front against four defenders and hope they can score. It comes from building in the middle. Our goal is to bring the ball out and control it from the back third, to the middle third, all the way to the attacking third. We can score, but it will come from more than one person.”
With all the changes in style, Arce is not backing away from expecting success.
”If they play the type of soccer we want to play, we could be a 13-win team,” he said. “That’s shooting high, that’s beating some teams that beat them last year. There’s a good group of kids, and we’re trying to be positive, telling them to think differently. With the talent they have, they should be able to do that.”
BNL will open the regular season on Aug. 15 against Silver Creek.
