Chris McClellan (born May 9, 1981, in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who currently plays for

USASA The United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) is a national organization for amateur soccer in the United States. It consists of 54 state associations in four regions, as well as national, regional, and state leagues. It compares to the Uni ...

amateur team CASL Elite.

Career

Youth and college

McClellan played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Colorado Christian University Colorado Christian University (CCU) is a private Christian university in Lakewood, Colorado, United States. CCU was founded by Clifton Fowler in 1914 as the Denver Bible Institute. History CCU's heritage dates back to the formation of Denver Bi ...

where he still holds the single season records for most saves (145 in 2002) and goals against average (1.44 in 1999) as well as the career records for saves (486), goals against average (1.60), and shutouts (14). In 2008, McClellan was inducted into the Colorado Christian University Hall of Fame. In addition to the Hall of Fame nomination, McClellan was also named in 2009 to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Century Men's Soccer team

Professional

In 2003, McClellan signed with the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles is an American amateur soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at the ...

of the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

. In 2005, he backstopped the Eagles to the USL-2 title after taking over starting goalkeeper duties when Trevor Upton was injured. In August 2005, USL named McClellan its USL-2 Goalkeeper of the Year. On April 5, 2007, the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Carolina Railhawks. On December 6, 2016, the RailH ...

announced they had signed McClellan. Initially expected to be a backup keeper, McClellen impressed the coaching staff and became the starting goalkeeper. He held the RailHawks starting position for two seasons, but left the team following the 2008 season to sign with the

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

of USL-1. In July 2009, McClelland moved to the

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. Histor ...

of the

. After the USL-2 season concluded, he finished the regular season and playoff with USL-1 sided Charleston Battery, playing in 3 games total. McClellan played the amateur team CASL Elite in the

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

; his team won their regional qualification group (which also featured NPSL teams

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, br ...

and

Atlanta FC Atlanta Soccer Club was an American soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2007 as Atlanta FC, it became the reserve team of the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2011, and licensed the name of the first team when it folded in 2016. On January ...

) before falling 4–2 to

pro side

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

in the first round of tournament proper.

References

External links

Wilmington Hammerheads bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, Chris 1981 births Living people American men's soccer players Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado USL First Division players USL Second Division players Charlotte Eagles players North Carolina FC players Puerto Rico Islanders players Wilmington Hammerheads FC players Charleston Battery players Expatriate men's footballers in Puerto Rico Soccer players from Colorado Men's association football goalkeepers