By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – For five Bedford North Lawrence seniors, the clock is about to stop ticking. There was always another game, another season, ahead. Until there’s not. That’s when the reality alarm goes off. This is it.
The Stars honored their five upperclassmen with a 5-0 victory over Bloomfield on Monday in the home finale. Two seniors (Ayden Patton and Parker Beeson) scored, making their farewell appearance special, as BNL improved to 5-8-1.
When Ryan Otis took over as BNL coach, these seniors (including Austin Harms, Charlie Huang and Asher Arce) were raw freshmen. Now they’re close to the elder’s exit.
“It’s a bit of a special class,” Otis said. “They’re hard workers out there. So we’re glad to get their last win on the turf for them.”
Patton got the Stars started with a goal (via a Noah Childers assist) at 23:15 of the first half. Childers then set up Beeson for a blast and 2-0 lead at 16:26. Saeben Arce added a third when he gathered Nathan Tomlin’s crossing pass from the left wing and rifled a shot into the right corner with 7:39 left.
In the second half, Saeben Arce converted a penalty kick at 27:17, and Tomlin converted a Harms pass from the right wing for a goal with 6:53 remaining.
“It’s amazing,” Beeson said. “We always thought we had next year to get better, but this is it. And it finally set in, this is the final game. Better play our best.”
“Thinking less and being aware of where you are on the field seems to help more than overthinking,” Patton said.
BNL had other scoring chances. Asher Arce rattled the left post with a shot late in the first half, Ian Wilcher had a point-blank breakaway smothered by the Bloomfield goalie late in the second.
”That will be the takeaway – finishing,” Otis said. “We had opportunities and shots on goal, we just need to find those corners and convert.”
The Cardinals fell to 1-10-1.
The Stars will travel to Seymour for the regular-season finale on Thursday.
