BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Francisco Cardenas (Omaha, Neb./Omaha South HS), Erik Sanchez (Omaha, Neb./Omaha South HS), and Milton Navarro (Omaha, Neb./Omaha South HS) have all signed Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at Bellevue beginning in the fall.
Francisco Cardenas (Omaha, Neb./Omaha South HS) comes to Bellevue from Nebraska FC where he gained a familiarity with Bruin coach Mark Heath-Preston. Among his athletic honors are being named to the All-Star Senior Showcase in 2022 and being named to the Nebraska Best XI in 2019. An honor roll student, he intends to major in Business Analysis and Management at BU.
Erik Sanchez (Omaha, Neb./Omaha South HS) also joins the Bruins from Nebraska FC where he, too, was coached by Mark Heath-Preston. During the 2021 Class A State Tournament he was named to the Best XI. He intends to major in Business at BU after being an honor roll student at Omaha South.
Milton Navarro (Omaha, Neb./Omaha South HS) arrives at Bellevue following a successful club and scholastic career. He played club soccer where he was coached by Bruin coach Mark Heath-Preston and attended Omaha South High School. He intends to major in Health Science while at Bellevue.
All three of Cardenas, Sanchez, and Navarro helped NFC to back-to-back Club Cups at the State Championships in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, the trio guided Omaha South to the 2021 Class A State Championship.
Today's signings join previously announced signees Matias Daniel (Santiago, Chile), Fletcher Hedge (Beccles, England), Dan Smith (Hadleigh, England), Aghiles Ould Lamara (Nancy, France), Jack Armstrong (Newcastle, England), Bradley Ironside (Kings Lynn, England), Jose Boggio (Lecheria, Venezuela), Romeo Paparesta (Bari, Italy), Alvaro Moros Sanz (Castellon de la Plana, Spain) in the Bruins' 2022 recruiting class.
Bellevue concluded its 2021 season with a 16-3-2 overall record, matching the 2005 and 2020 squads for the second-highest win total in program history. The Bruins won their second-straight CAC Tournament Championship to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament for the third time in four seasons, hosting for the second time.
