Christopher Joseph Petrucelli (born May 9, 1962) is an American soccer executive who is the general manager for the

Dallas Trinity FC Dallas Trinity FC is an American professional Women's association football, women's soccer club based in Dallas, Texas, that competes in the USL Super League (USLS). History Establishment A team representing the Dallas–Fort Worth metropl ...

of the

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

(USLS), a position he has held since 2024.

Playing career

Raised in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...

, Petrucelli attended J. P. Stevens High School, where he played for the soccer team. In college, he played in 1980, 1982, and 1983 for UNC Greensboro, then a

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

school, under head coach Mike Berticelli. He helped the school to two

NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament is an annual event organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champions of men's collegiate soccer among its Division III members in the United States. It ...

titles in 1982 and 1983, and was the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in his senior year. In 1998, Petrucelli was inducted into the inaugural

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

class of J. P. Stevens High School.

Coaching career

After graduating from college in 1985, Petrucelli joined Berticelli, his former coach at UNC Greensboro, as a graduate assistant coach for the Old Dominion men's soccer program. At the time, he worked at the docks in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, for a tea-packing company. He became a full-time assistant coach from 1986, with the school achieving their best result in his final season by reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. In 1990, Petrucelli followed Berticelli to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. Berticelli had agreed to join Notre Dame, on the condition that the school would find a position for Petrucelli as well. Petrucelli was appointed as the head coach of Notre Dame's women's soccer team in the team's third season of existence, and also assisted Berticelli with the men's team in the first year. Petrucelli led Notre Dame to six consecutive appearances in the

NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's natio ...

from 1993 to 1998, including three straight appearances in the championship game from 1994 to 1996. The school won the

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

championship 1–0 against

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

after three overtime periods, ending

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

's run of nine consecutive titles, with Notre Dame having defeated them 1–0 in the semi-finals. Notre Dame lost both the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

championship games to North Carolina, by a score of 5–0 and 1–0 (after double overtime), respectively. In 1994 and 1995, he was named Women's College Soccer Coach of the Year by the

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

. He finished with a record of 175 wins, 22 losses, and 10 draws with the school. He also served as the head soccer coach at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1994 and 1995, and has worked as a coach for the Olympic Development Program. In December 1998, Petrucelli was announced as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns women's soccer team for the following season. He coached the school to first place during the regular season in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

in 2001, and won the Big 12 Tournament in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. From 2001 to 2011, the school made ten appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament, only missing out during this stretch in 2009. Their best result in the tournament was reaching the last 16, achieved in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, and

. He finished with a record of 165 wins, 88 losses, and 26 draws while at Texas. From 2003 to 2004, Petrucelli also served as the coach of the United States women's national under-21 team, and won consecutive Nordic Cup titles. In 2012, Petrucelli became the head coach of Southern Methodist University women's soccer team. During his tenure, SMU made two appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. In total, he finished with a record of 88 wins, 74 losses and 18 draws at the school. In January 2020, he also was the coach of the United States women's national under-18 team for the Tricontinental Cup tournament in

Lakewood Ranch, Florida Lakewood Ranch is a planned community and census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Manatee County and northeastern Sarasota County, Florida, United States, consisting of approximately . It is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Flor ...

, in which the U.S. finished second to the Netherlands.

Chicago Red Stars

On February 18, 2022, the

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

announced Petrucelli as the coach of the team for the 2022 season in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

. Petrucelli is the second head coach of the Red Stars in the NWSL era after the scandal plagued exit of

Rory Dames Rory Dames Jr. (born February 10, 1973) is an American soccer coach who most recently was the head coach of the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He is the owner and former president of Chicago Eclipse Select, a y ...

. In his first season in 2022 the team went , which was good enough for sixth in the standings and the last playoff spot. After scoring first in the tenth minute, the team lost 2–1 in the first round to expansion club

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

Personal life

Petrucelli is a native of

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

, and graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...

in 1984 with a degree in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. He has three children with his wife Eve.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrucelli, Chris 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Edison, New Jersey Soccer players from Essex County, New Jersey Soccer players from Middlesex County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Orange, New Jersey American men's soccer players Men's association football players not categorized by position J. P. Stevens High School alumni UNC Greensboro Spartans men's soccer players American soccer coaches American women's soccer coaches Old Dominion Monarchs men's soccer coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's soccer coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer coaches Texas Longhorns women's soccer coaches SMU Mustangs women's soccer coaches Chicago Red Stars head coaches Dallas Trinity FC Dallas Trinity FC head coaches 20th-century American sportsmen