By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Quick, name a famous athlete who wore No.47. We will wait for an answer. It will take a while for Siri, Google, Alexa or AI – maybe even Jeopardy legend Ken Jennings – to come up with a name to match that odd prime number.
So how in the world did Bedford North Lawrence junior Ian Wilcher get stuck with such a unique jersey? Simple explanation, really, Those resplendent new uniforms, sparkling red, were numbered based on size. Lowest digits went on the smaller shirts. Hence, Wilcher was forced to vacate his former No.2. No way it would work on his frame.
Turns out, 47 was a perfect fit. Wilcher ripped home a goal during the first four minutes of the delayed season opener, added an assist, and sparked the baby Stars (with half the starting lineup consisting of freshmen and sophomores) to a 6-1 victory over Scottsburg on Tuesday.
Not only did the fresh, unshaven faces start, they contributed in huge ways as BNL opened its 40th anniversary season in style, dominating time of possession, shots and control on its offensive end. The Stars scored three times in each half, snapped off 18 shots, and rarely allowed the Warriors to generate a legitimate threat. Scottsburg’s only goal came off a penalty kick midway through the second half.
After waiting 15 days since the official start of practice to finally face competition, BNL pounced. Wilcher gathered a breakaway pass from Kolten Axsom (freshman) and beat the goalie with a smash to the lower left corner at 36:01. That set the tone for a grand debut.
“I’ve been telling them since January that I believe in them and they can do great things,” first-year BNL coach Reeve Arce said. “It took all summer for them to start buying into it, just getting them to figure out a different game, passing and moving, let the ball do the work. And they did it. We just needed to kick the door open.”
The possession offense, highlighted by ball movement that snapped with purpose, produced constant chances. Saeben Arce recorded the second goal at 16:08 when he smacked a hard shot that clipped the cross bar and dropped in, and Ezra Clark (sophomore) took a Barrett Holtz (freshman) pass between defenders and fired amidst traffic for a goal at 11:53.
“As long as we strike early, ruin the other team’s motivation, we can keep putting it in the back of the net,” said BNL junior Weston Holtz (one of the ‘old’ guys on the roster). “It was very satisfying. I was wondering how it would go, with a young team. It worked out perfectly. Practices get very tiring. No competition, doing the same thing every day. But it paid off today.“
Holtz got the second half started with a goal off a Wilcher pass (thanks to some confusion around an offsides flag that was ignored or rescinded) at 34:38, and Barrett Holtz broke through at 32:17 with an unassisted goal.
The Warriors avoided the shutout with the penalty kick from Isaiah Cumbee with 26:44 remaining, but the Stars got that back as Zaden Roodschild pushed up from his defensive spot to score with 3:35 left.
BNL’s plan to force the issue and protect the possession worked well.
”We want it in the attack third,” Arce said. “We don’t want to play in the back third. They know it’s a little risky, but if they push up, they can control the game.”
“We showed we are a good team that can compete with anybody,” Wilcher said.
BNL will visit Mitchell for the county-rivalry clash on Thursday.
