ul soccer coach

LAFAYETTE — Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Soccer Coach Chris McBride completed his inaugural 2022 coaching staff on Tuesday when he announced the addition of Nick Petrucelli as an assistant coach.

Petrucelli, who joins Julia Ortiz on McBride’s first Ragin’ Cajuns staff, spent the past four seasons on the staff at the University of Miami.

“Nick’s going to add a lot of experience to our program, he’s been around college soccer since he was born,” McBride said. “It’s in his family, it’s in his blood. He had a very good successful stint as an assistant at SMU before moving on to Miami.”

During his tenure in Coral Gables, Petrucelli served as the Hurricanes’ Director of Operations. Petrucelli also coached at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, Fla., where he helped lead the team to an 18-2-3 record and the 2021 Florida Class 3A state title match. While at Ransom, the Raiders earned a national ranking of No. 2 in the country before finishing ninth overall by SoccerWire.com.

Before his appointment at Miami, Petrucelli spent a year on staff at his alma mater — Southern Methodist University — where he was the women’s soccer undergraduate assistant. In his role, he served as the Mustangs’ video coordinator and aided with other tasks assigned by the coaching staff.

During his tenure at SMU, Petrucelli helped the women’s soccer team reach double-digit wins for the second straight season and wrapped up the year 2-1-1 against top-25 competition. The Mustangs opened the season with a 1-0 overtime win against No. 17 and a scoreless draw vs. No. 16 Oklahoma. The team then ended the 2017 season winning five of its final six contests.

“He has a lot of experience at high-level soccer. He’s got a great eye for talent and has a really good understanding of the game, but most importantly he matches our values,” said McBride.

“He has a really strong, work ethic, is very humble in what he does and carries good character and integrity. He will be a great addition to the staff.”

As a player, Petrucelli was a member of the SMU men’s soccer team for two seasons, making his collegiate debut in 2014 against Central Arkansas.

Prior to enrolling at SMU, he played for Lonestar SC Academy in the United States Soccer Development Academy from 2009-13, reaching the postseason twice and claiming the Disney Cup championship in 2009.

Petrucelli comes from a soccer family as his father, Chris, spent 32 seasons as a Division I head coach winning 428 matches in stops at Notre Dame, Texas and SMU. The elder Petrucelli, currently 11th on the NCAA Division I list for career victories, orchestrated Notre Dame women’s soccer program into one of the nation’s best from 1990-98. During his nine-year tenure with the Fighting Irish, he guided Notre Dame to the 1995 NCAA National Championship, three National Championship title matches and six NCAA Tournament appearances. He led the program to four consecutive national semifinal berths and eight straight conference championships.

A native of Austin, Texas, Petrucelli graduated from SMU in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management and journalism.