The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Soccer
- Title:
- Head Coach
| THE PETRUCELLI FILE |
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Full Name: Chris Petrucelli |
Entering his 13th year as Longhorns head coach, Chris Petrucelli continues to raise the national profile of Texas Soccer.
Petrucelli has not only signed top five recruiting classes on the Forty Acres, including the No. 3 class nationally in both 2003 and 2004 according to Soccer America, but also led the Longhorns to nine consecutive double-digit win seasons for the first time in history (2000-08). Under his tutelage, Texas has captured back-to-back Big 12 Postseason titles (2006-07) and the program's first Big 12 regular season title in 2001. He has guided the Longhorns to nine NCAA Tournament appearances (2001-08, 2010), including runs to the third round (round of 16) in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
Petrucelli stands at eighth in all-time Division I women's soccer coaching wins (318) and seventh in winning percentage (.751). Texas has also compiled a 67-27-19 record over the last five years, for a .671 winning percentage.
In 2010, the Longhorns made it to the NCAA Championship tournament under Petrucelli's guidance. They finished the season with an 11-6-4 record, including two wins over top 10 opponents. In non-conference action, Texas knocked off No. 10 BYU, 1-0, with a goal in the second minute. Later in the season, the Horns upset No. 5 Oklahoma State, 1-0, snapping the Cowgirls' 13-match winning streak along with handing them their lone Big 12 loss. The Horns posted eight shutouts while holding opponents to just 22 goals.
The 2008 season saw the UT program continue to grow as the team jumped out to its best start in program history with a mark of 7-0-2 en route to advancing to its 10th-straight Big 12 Tournament and eighth-straight NCAA Championship. The Texas defense also continued to dominate as it held opponents to just 14 goals all season, a program-low, and broke the single-season shutout record that had been reached in both 2006 and 2007, by keeping 11 teams scoreless. The Horns also produced their first three-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas All-American in defender Kasey Moore.
Under Petrucelli's guidance, the 2007 season continued to build upon the momentum from the 2006 season. UT recorded the second-highest win total (16) in school history, earned the program's first No. 1 national ranking (Oct. 8), claimed its second-straight Big 12 Postseason Championship and advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, and third time over the last four seasons.
The Horns ended the season ranked 11th in the nation. Junior Kasey Moore became the first Longhorn to garner an NSCAA/adidas All-American honor in back-to-back seasons after landing on the third team in 2007. Texas' season was highlighted a victory over No. 2 UCLA, the highest ranked opponent a UT squad has defeated, two wins over rival Texas A&M, including a 3-2 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on the Aggies home field, and eight weeks ranked in the nation's top 10.
A year prior, UT set school records in overall victories (18) en route to claiming the program's first Big 12 Postseason Championship and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Championship. Petrucelli, who was named 2006 NSCAA Central Region Coach of the Year, became the first Longhorn soccer coach to win 100 games at UT with a 1-0 victory over Missouri on Oct. 20, 2006.
The Longhorns' success carried from the regular season to the postseason as UT earned one of four No. 1 national seeds, and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Championship. UT ended the season with the highest ranking for a Longhorn program (No. 8), and two NSCAA All-Americans in sophomore Kasey Moore and junior Kelsey Carpenter. Moore became the first UT soccer player to earn a place on the First Team while Carpenter was the third Longhorn to earn Second Team honors.
Since taking the Texas coaching reigns on December 31, 1998, the two-time National Coach of the Year has seen his UT clubs tally 154 victories over 12 years (12-plus wins per season average), garner the program's highest in-season national ranking (No. 1 in 2007), and finish the 2006 campaign ranked as high as any UT team has ever finished (No. 8).
His Longhorns teams have also earned berths in 10 consecutive Big 12 Tournaments, winning the program's first postseason title in 2006 with a repeat performance in 2007. After earning the league's regular season crown in 2001, UT has finished second in the Big 12 regular season race three times (2002, 2006 and 2007).
Petrucelli was lauded as the NSCAA/adidas Central Region Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2006 and is a six-time conference coach of the year.
Prior to coming to UT, Petrucelli constructed the Notre Dame soccer program into one of the nation's examples of national achievement and success. He guided the Fighting Irish for nine years (1990-98) and was honored by the NSCAA as the National Coach of the Year in both 1994 and 1995 en route to becoming the only collegiate coach to win the award in consecutive years.
During his tenure with Notre Dame, he led the Irish to the 1995 NCAA National Championship (dethroning nine-time champion North Carolina in the process), three National Championship title games (1994-96) and six NCAA Tournament appearances. This included four consecutive national semifinal berths from 1994-97, and eight-straight conference championships.
Prior to being honored as the 1996 Big East Coach of the Year and leading the Irish to Big East crowns during each of his four seasons in the conference, Petrucelli was named the Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) Coach of the Year in each of Notre Dame's four years within that league, as he guided the Irish to MCC titles every year and never lost a league match.
A standout teacher of the game, Petrucelli has not only produced championship-caliber teams as a head coach, but has also developed some of the nation's top soccer talent as well. Top honorees include UT's only three-time NSCAA All-American in Kasey Moore (2006-08) along with Kelsey Carpenter (2006), Kelly Wilson (2001-02), Kati McBain (2002) and Kelly McDonald (2003); the 2007 and 2008 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (Moore), 2002 Big 12 Player of the Year (Wilson), and four All-Big 12 Tournament MVP's. Under Petrucelli's guidance, 22 players have garnered 42 All-Big 12 accolades, 35 All-Central Region selections, and three Big 12 Rookie of the Year honors (Kati McBain in 2000, Wilson in 2001 and Moore in 2005).
At Notre Dame, Petrucelli's players earned 23 NSCAA All-America honors, the most NSCAA All-America selections by one Division I program since 1994. Petrucelli's also mentored All-America midfielder Cindy Daws won the prestigious 1996 Hermann Trophy and 1996 Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year awards, and Jen Renola who was selected as the NSCAA National Player of the Year in 1996.
A native of Orange, N.J., Petrucelli, 49, is the second head women's soccer coach in UT history, replacing Dang Pibulvech who coached the Longhorns in their first five intercollegiate seasons from 1994-98.
Besides working with his programs, Petrucelli has served as chair of the NCAA Division I Soccer Rules Committee; been active in the NSCAA; served as a member of NSCAA Coaching Academy staff while sponsoring workshops for other coaches at the convention; and has been a member of the United States Soccer Federation Region I Olympic Development Program staff for boys as well as the Region II staff for girls. In addition, Petrucelli was also the head coach for the United States Olympic Festival in both 1994 and 1995, served as the head coach of the U.S. Under-21 Women's National Team during the summers of 2003 and 2004, and has worked as the Under-16 girls Region II ODP head coach. Of note, he led the Under-21 National Team to back-to-back Nordic Cup titles in 2003 and 2004.
Petrucelli arrived at Notre Dame in 1990 with the late Mike Berticelli, as Berticelli took over the Irish's men's program the same year. Petrucelli's association with Berticelli began when Petrucelli was a player at North Carolina-Greensboro and Berticelli was the head coach. When he first arrived at Notre Dame, Petrucelli served as the assistant men's soccer coach from 1990-91 before working solely with the women's team and assuming his first Division I head coaching position.
During his playing career under Berticelli, Petrucelli helped UNC-Greensboro capture a pair of NCAA Division III titles in 1982 and 1983 and was named the team's captain as a senior. After earning his degree in business administration in 1984, he spent a year as a graduate assistant at Old Dominion, where Berticelli had become the head coach. Petrucelli then became one of ODU's full-time assistant coaches in 1986.
Petrucelli and his wife, Eve, are the parents of daughter Gabrielle, and sons Nicholas and Andrew.
