Nicholas, of Saranac Lake, traveled with his family to Torino and Aosta, Italy in April for the Warrior World Cup Challenge, an international ice hockey tournament that featured teams from across Europe and North America.

Nicholas, an eighth-grade goalkeeper who was a member of the Saranac Lake Placid varsity hockey team this past season, came back from the tournament a champion after defeating Lombardi — a team from a region in Northern Italy — 10-0.

Nicholas played a big role in his U15 MCN Hockey Club team’s success, earning the win in the championship game while recording two shutouts in the tournament.

After winning the championship, Nicholas and his team swapped jerseys with their opponents.

SLP’s Scottie Nicholas hugs the post during the second period of a game against Plattsburgh High School at the 1932 Jack Shea Arena in Lake Placid on Jan. 18. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“The team was, like, really happy to get American jerseys. I figured they’d be a lot more mad at us because we, like, pummeled them in the championship game,” Nicholas joked. “But they were, like, really happy to get our jerseys, so that was cool.”

The MCN hockey team that Nicholas played for is run and coached by MCN Sports Advising, an organization based in Boca Raton, Florida that puts on tournaments and camps to help young hockey players move on to higher levels of play.

His mother, Suzanne, said they learned about the team and the tournament through Facebook and decided to reach out to the founder and advisor of the organization, Dave LoPresti.

“We talked to him about the leagues and the level of play that Scottie has been in for the past few years and he was familiar with it,” she said.

She said they sent him some video tryout materials and that same day he was accepted to the team.

SLP’s Scottie Nicholas skates around during warmups of a game against Beekmantown at the Saranac Lake Civic Center on Jan. 20. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“It was pretty unbelievable to come across something across Facebook and have it actually be a reality,” she said. “I think our whole family is grateful for the experience and support from family and friends, businesses and fundraising components for his player package. We all know that it’s not an opportunity that comes across every player or every family’s day, so we’re really grateful for that.”

Just like Scottie, young hockey players from all over the United States tried out for the team, which made it one of the most skilled teams he had ever played for. He essentially played with 15 strangers.

“I was excited because I felt like we would be really good because we picked kids from all over the country,” he said.

Nicholas said he only met one of his teammates before playing in Europe because he had previously played with him on another team.

His team played against teams from Switzerland, Italy and France in a tournament he’ll likely never forget. Nicholas said this might be one of the biggest accomplishments in his hockey journey so far.