Varsity Boys Soccer Wins Second Straight Monsignor Martin Championship

For the second season in a row, the Nichols varsity boys soccer team emerged victorious over Canisius High School by a score of 2-1 in the Monsignor Martin High School Athletic Association (MMHSAA) championship game. It was the Vikings’ third MMHSAA boys soccer championship win in program history.
 
Anthony Rambino ’22 scored the game’s first goal, and after a second-half score off a corner kick by the Crusaders, the game continued into extra time. With just over a minute to go in overtime, Kurt Mauser ’23 found open space on the left side and buried the golden goal for the Vikings.
 
“I got a great feed, I looked up, and decided to put it on net,” Mauser said in a postgame interview with Budd Bailey of The Buffalo News. “It went low corner. I was just so happy that it went in. Once the ball got past the goalie, I was thinking, ‘Please don’t hit the post.’”
 
It took extra time for the Vikings to get to the championship game as well, earning a 3-2 victory over St. Francis on November 1 with Tommy Enstice '22 earning the decisive goal.

Nichols had finished with a loss and a tie against Canisius in two previous matchups this season, and found the right mix of timely offense and big saves from goalkeeper Lucas Suero ’22 to stay in the game.
 
After the win, Mauser and Nichols coach Chris Walter acknowledged the tenacity of the Canisius team in a hard-fought matchup.
 
“We tied them, we lost to them – the only thing left was to win,” Mauser said. “They had a few chances where I thought, ‘Ooh, that was close.’ There were a few crosses, and our goalie bailed us out a few times. Ultimate to respect to that (Canisius) team – they’re amazing. But I feel like we deserved to win, and we did.”
 
“The story for us was that we haven’t been able to put the ball in the net, and the story for Canisius is that they keep the ball out of the net,” Walter said. “We knew it was going to be a 1-0 game or a 2-1 win. Luckily, that’s how that turned out.”
 
This year, Nichols will have a chance to compete for a Catholic state championship. That journey begins this Friday, November 12 in the state semifinals with a 5 p.m. match against Fordham Prep.
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Nichols School is a nationally recognized college preparatory coed independent school with a 130-year history.