After suffering multiple concussions on the football field before high school, Mount Carmel’s Adam Corral decided he needed to give up that sport.

Soccer, though? Corral wasn’t quitting. Instead, he threw all his passion into becoming a top goalkeeper.

“I just stuck with soccer,” Corral said. “I decided I’m done with football. Sometimes, I do miss playing, but I can’t go back. The doctors told me that if I kept playing football and kept taking bad hits, I could die or be disabled for life.

“My love for soccer definitely grew after that.”

A grown-up Corral was brilliant Tuesday night. The senior netminder made seven saves to help the Caravan fight for a 1-1 Catholic League Blue tie against host St. Laurence in Burbank.

Jordan Thomas scored the goal for Mount Carmel (6-5-2, 1-2-2).

Mount Carmel’s Adam Corral (0) tracks the action against St. Laurence during a Catholic League Blue game in Burbank on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)

Aaron Lugo also scored, Hilario Sanchez tallied the assist and Vin Diesi made two saves for the Vikings (12-2-3, 2-0-2).

Corral had an interesting night. The headgear he wears as protection due to his concussion history caused some discussion among the referees when it was sliding around his head and briefly stopped the game.

“At first, I was like, ‘Did I do something wrong?’” Corral said. “Then they told me I had to make a choice, either the headgear comes off or I have to tape it.

“I didn’t have any tape on me, so I just took it off, but they stopped the game because our athletic trainer was like, ‘He has to have that on.’”

Mount Carmel’s Adam Corral (0) gets his headgear taped on by a trainer against St. Laurence in the first half of a Chicago Catholic League game in Burbank on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)

Corral has a plan to make sure nothing similar happens again.

“My mom’s going to get me one with a strap,” he said. “Hopefully, we won’t have any more helmet accidents.”

Once the trainer taped Corral’s helmet on, he was back to dominating the action. He made big save after big save as Mount Carmel tried to hold on to a 1-0 lead.

St. Laurence finally broke through with 4:17 to go, but only after Corral made a tremendous kick save on Sanchez’s shot. Lugo was there to tap in the rebound as Corral had no shot at stopping that follow-up attempt.

Mount Carmel’s Adam Corral (0) looks on against St. Laurence during a Catholic League Blue game in Burbank on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)

“I was just thinking I had to put the ball in the back of the net and give my team some momentum,” Lugo said. “We couldn’t get the winner after that, but just the fact that I was able to give my team some momentum, that was bigger than anything I could have done for the team.”

Corral, though, shined in spite of allowing the game-tying goal.

“Adam is the voice of the team,” Thomas said. “He sees everything that I can’t see. He really tells me where I need to get the ball, where to turn. Even though this unfortunately was a 1-1 draw, he gave us everything he had.

“It’s not always going to go our way, but at the end of the day, when I see Adam in goal, I know we can rely on the defense for sure.”

Mount Carmel coach Ross LaBauex shares a similar level of confidence in his goalkeeper.

“He’s been good,” LaBauex said of Corral. “He’s fearless. As a goalie, you’ve got to be a little brave. He checks all those boxes. He made some big saves (Tuesday night) and kept us in the game.”

Mount Carmel’s Adam Corral (0) signals to his teammates against St. Laurence during a Catholic League Blue game in Burbank on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)

Corral’s first concussion actually came before he started playing football.

“It was in kindergarten,” he said. “I fell off a slide with an eight-foot drop and I went too fast and I fell headfirst. Every concussion after that happened specifically from tackle football.

“I’ve been wearing this headgear for soccer since second grade.”

And he’s been thriving with the Caravan.

“I try to play like a professional, even though I’m not at that level,” Corral said. “My philosophy is to always stay aggressive.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/30/adam-corral-mount-carmel-st-laurence-ihsa-boys-soccer/