T.R. Bell, the winningest coach in Midwest Conference soccer history and a 2009 inductee into the Forester Athletic Hall of Fame, served as the program's head coach for the 29th year in 2025.
The 2025 Foresters matched the 2014 squad for the best season in program history by winning their first 21 games, capturing a conference championship with an undefeated league record, claiming an MWC Tournament title, and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on their home field. Lake Forest also outscored opponents 86-13 and set single-season school records for most goals scored (3.91) and fewest allowed (0.59) per game.
Bell and his assistants were named MWC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2025 and six of his players earned all-conference accolades, including MWC Offensive Player of the Year Izzy DeStefano and MWC Newcomer of the Year Maddie Vasquez. United Soccer Coaches First Team All-Region IX honors went to DeStefano and Anna Gracia while Anna Hoffman and Vasquez were second and fourth team selections, respectively. The same organization named DeStefano a Third Team All-American and Hoffman earned First Team Academic All-America® distinction.
A 4-1 triumph over Aurora University on September 3, 2025, was the 300th win for Bell as the Foresters' head coach. His 200th was a 9-0 season-opening rout of Wisconsin Lutheran College in 2015, number 100 was a 1-0 blanking of Monmouth College in 2006, and he has been the program's all-time leader in victories since defeating the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 3-1 in 2001.
In his 29-year career Bell's teams have compiled a 318-170-33 record, including a mark of 187-48-16 (.777) in conference play. His overall victory total is at least 100 more than any other women's or men's soccer coach in league history and he is a six-time MWC Coach of the Year (2003, 2004, 2012, 2014, 2023, 2025). He was also voted NCAA Division III North Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2014. Lake Forest has captured eight conference championships (2001, 2004, 2012, 2014-15, 2023-25) and reached the NCAA Tournament five times (2003, 2012, 2014, 2023, 2025) in his career.
Five different players have earned All-American honors under Bell's direction and Foresters have been named All-Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America 30 times during his tenure. Of the team's 106 all-conference selections over the last 29 seasons, 61 have been first team choices and 22 have been freshmen. His players have also been named Academic All-MWC 236 times with a program record 20 of the team's 27 players earning that distinction in 2024-25.
Bell, a Milwaukee native, graduated in 1996 from Lake Forest College not only with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and anthropology, but as a two-time First Team All-MWC performer, two-time Forester Most Valuable Player, and four-year starter. Bell ended his playing career with 91 points, which ranks him fifth on the program's all-time scoring list. He is the school's career leader with 35 assists and ranks tied-for-eighth with 28 goals, despite spending his senior year on the defensive side of the field. He also holds the school record for assists in a season with 16 in 1993. During Bell's four-year collegiate career, the Foresters were 63-12-2 (.831), won at least 11 overall and eight MWC games each season, lost just five times in MWC regular season play (34-5-2), and were 4-2-0 in the MWC Tournament along the way to two conference titles (1992, 1995).
Bell's pre-Lake Forest career was highlighted by seven Wisconsin state championships while playing for the Bavarian Club of Milwaukee.
He, his wife Julie, and their children Luke and Olivia reside in nearby Lake Bluff.
