Nichols nets OT winner for Mount Carmel in sectional
Junior defender scores pair of goals as Caravan pull out wild win over Kankakee
The motivational messages from his brother worked for Mount Carmel’s Ryan Nichols.
The junior defender, a South Holland resident, has plenty of ties to the Caravan as his father and three brothers, including Kendall, also went there and played sports.
Kendall, a junior on the 2016 soccer team that finished second in the state, is now coaching a high school team in Beech Grove, Indiana. He was an inspiration Tuesday night.
“All throughout the day, he was texting me,” Ryan said of Kendall. “He was giving me motivational messages for this game. I know he was streaming and watching.”
Ryan Nichols was a sight to see, scoring what turned out to be the winning goal in the second overtime as Mount Carmel pulled out a wild 4-3 victory over fourth-seeded Kankakee in the Class 2A Brother Rice Sectional semifinals.
It was Nichols’ second goal of the game for the top-seeded Caravan (13-3-5), who will aim for the fourth sectional title in program history at 10 a.m. Saturday in the championship game.
“The first thing I thought about after scoring that goal was my brother,” Nichols said.
Nichols, who came into the game with two goals this season, scored with 9:42 left in regulation to force a 2-2 tie. He then struck with 1:33 left in the second 10-minute OT.
Both goals were from in front of the net through a ton of traffic.
“I’m not sure what to say on that second goal, but I was available,” Nichols said. “I had the opportunity and I just took it.”
It was a long time coming too. Nichols’ father, Donald, and brothers Don and David
played basketball for the Caravan.
“What Ryan did was what every kid dreams about,” Mount Carmel coach Antonio Godinez said. “He’s been coming to our games since he was like 6 or 7.
“He comes from a great pedigree of student-athletes, and I’m happy and excited for him because he pulled through and played a tremendous game.”
Kankakee (15-7-2) reached the sectional after beating Oak Forest in penalty kicks for the regional title.
Mount Carmel goalkeeper Andres Comp, a Wisconsin-Whitewater recruit, said he studied film on Kankakee from that game in case the semifinal went to PKs.
“I’m excited he got the goal and I’m happy,” Comp said of Nichols. “I do feel I’m pretty good with PKs and I was ready, but I would much rather take the goal 100% of the time.”
The Caravan had two quick shots in the first 40 seconds and Dominic Gadalinski hit pay dirt from the left side with the third at the 38:25 mark for the lone goal of the first half.
Kankakee scored 13 seconds into the second half and took the lead with another goal. After Nichols tied it up, Gerardo Rangel gave the Caravan the lead with 7:38 left.
The Kays, however, knotted things back up a minute later.
“We have to play two quality halves,” Godinez said. “Usually, we start slow in the first half and play well in the second. But we came
out flat in the second half.”
It has been a unique season for the Caravan as five of Mount Carmel’s six Catholic League Blue battles resulted in ties. Four were by identical scores of 1-1.
After enjoying two regional shutouts, Nichols helped anchor a sharp defense that prevented Kankakee from taking a shot in the first half.
But the defense broke down in the second half and Nichols found himself scoring a pair of goals to help save the day.
“I usually don’t even take shots,” he said. “I don’t even normally score goals like that. This is surreal. I’m going to remember this the rest of my life.”