BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland's Steve Nichols will be inducted to the Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame on Friday, May 13, honoring a playing a coaching career that has brought the Greyhounds' head coach many accolades.
 
Nichols recently completed his eighth season at Loyola, one which culminated in Loyola reaching the NCAA College Cup after winning its first-ever Patriot League title.
 
The Greyhounds reached the Patriot League Tournament for the sixth year in a row, advancing to the Championship Game where they defeated American University, 2-1, to advance to the NCAA College Cup.
 
There, Loyola tied the University of North Carolina, 0-0, before the Tar Heels advanced in penalty kicks.
 
Nichols has led the Greyhounds to at least a share of the last five Patriot League regular-season titles and has compiled a 61-52-18 overall record at Loyola. He is a four-time conference coach of the year during his tenure on the Evergreen campus, as well.
 
The Baltimore-area native returned to the Loyola campus in 2014 after he coached Baltimore's top talent for over 22 years. In addition to serving as head coach of the Baltimore Bohemians professional team and director of coaching for the Baltimore Celtic Soccer Club youth organization, Nichols spent 17 years building McDonogh School into a perennial national prep power.
 
He led the program to a No. 1 national high school ranking on two occasions, including 2013, when the Eagles posted an unprecedented unbeaten record of 21-0-1, en route to winning the national championship. McDonogh won eight MIAA Championships under Nichols and were MIAA runners-up on six occasions.

Nichols was named the 2013 NSCAA Boys Private/Parochial School National Coach of the Year and has garnered honors such as NSCAA/MACS Coach of the Year, NSCAA/Adidas Regional and State Coach of the Year and Baltimore Sun Metro Coach of the Year. He was also named the Maryland State High School Terry Colaw Service Award winner in 2007 and the Richard Bartos Memorial Coach of the Year in 2000.

Outside of McDonogh, Nichols is the only coach in the nation to win nine National Youth Soccer Championships and was appointed the national coach for the U-17 Chelsea Tour in England in both 2009 and 2011. He served as the head coach for the Maryland Olympic Development Program from 1995-99, being awarded as the Maryland Olympic Development Coach of the Year in 1996 and was an MLS player combine coach in 2007.
 
A graduate of Boys' Latin School of Maryland, Nichols began his career at James Madison before coming to Loyola to help the men's soccer program to a 28-7-8 record, including an unblemished 13-0-0 mark in MAAC play, through the 1989 and 1990 seasons. Nichols, an all-region performer and two-time team most valuable player, remained with the program for the 1991 season while finishing his coursework, helping the squad to a third-straight MAAC regular season and tournament title.

Following his time in the Green and Grey, Nichols went on to play professionally for the Baltimore Spirit of the NPS and the Baltimore Bays of the USISL, before taking over at McDonogh School.