DALLAS (SMU) -- Chris Petrucelli's collegiate coaching career has spanned 26 years across three teams, where he won a national title and two national Coach of the Year awards, but from 2003-04, he forged a new path in the international game as the head coach of the Under-21 United States Women's National Soccer Team.

Petrucelli's chance to lead one of the nation's best youth soccer teams came in 2003, when he was appointed the head coach of the U-21 U.S. Women's National Team by the U.S. Soccer Federation. He credits his hiring to his knowledge of the college game and its players.

"I knew many of the players in the pool and whether it was coaching them at some point in some environment, watching them play on their college teams or recruiting them, there was a number of different ways," Petrucelli said.

Petrucelli's familiarity with the college game came from leading Notre Dame and Texas to new heights in women's soccer. Petrucelli was named NSCAA Coach of the Year with Notre Dame in 1994 and again in 1995 after guiding the Fighting Irish to their first National Championship.  At Texas, he led the Longhorns to their first Big 12 regular-season championship in 2001.

However, international soccer was a different game and introduced new challenges to Petrucelli in how he went about coaching his team.

"It's really different; first of all, the game is different because of the lack of substitutions. You only get three subs, so that presents all kinds of different situations for the coach," Petrucelli said. "The environment is different as well. When players go to play for the national team, their sole focus is on the national team. In the college environment, there is much more going on, whether it's studying, their academics, social environments and more. The kids that are on the national team are very focused on being the best player they can be."

As a coach at the international level, Petrucelli was able to travel abroad to play against some of the best young talent in the world. He led the U-21 Americans in the Nordic Cup both years at the helm, the top competition in the world for the age group at the time.

Team USA had prior success at the Nordic Cup, winning it five times, including four years in a row, leading into 2003. Petrucelli became the fourth coach to lead the Americans to the tournament championship, winning the competition in both years of his tenure.

"We played some of the best teams in the world; it was exciting, it was fun and it was challenging," Petrucelli said. "We played quality teams and fortunately we were successful in winning both tournaments."

Some of the players who played for Petrucelli during his time with the U-21 national team have gone on to successful international careers like Lori Chalupny, Cat Whitehill and the 2015 World Cup Golden Ball winner and U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, Carli Lloyd.

Petrucelli enjoys seeing his former players succeed, and takes pride in knowing he made an impact in their growth on the soccer field.

"For me, every time I see those guys play, those are the good moments for me," Petrucelli said. "I don't know if I have one favorite moment, but it's seeing these players that went on and had real good careers and knowing that maybe you had a little bit of an impact on it."

Petrucelli made the crossover from college to the international game with much success, and what he learned along the way has helped him become the coach he is today.

"The international game taught me all kinds of different things. I saw many different setups and systems and training techniques," Petrucelli said. "We went all over the world; we went to China, Brazil a couple times and Europe a number of times. It was an exposure to the highest level of soccer that's out there, and I think I learned more in those two years than I did in my entire career."

Petrucelli has just completed his fourth season on the Hilltop with the SMU women's soccer program, and although he cherished his time coaching at the international level, he has no plans to return to it anytime soon.

"It's certainly enjoyable and rewarding, but I think I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing right now," Petrucelli concluded.