John Natale returns for his eighth season as head coach of the Hartford women’s soccer team. Under his guidance, the Hawks have made five America East Championship appearances and one trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Natale has led Hartford to winning seasons in three of the last four years. Last season the Hawks went 7-9-3 overall advancing to the America East Quarterfinals before falling to Maine 0-1. The Hawks also had four players honored with postseason conference awards, led by First Team All-Conference selection Amelia Pereira. Joining Pereira on the conference honor roll was senior Michele DeSanti and junior Caroline Dixon who were each named to the Second Team All-Conference. Rounding out the postseason honors was graduating senior Michelle Babin who was named tot he All-Academic Team. In addition, following the America East Championship, DeSanti earned All-Tournament distinction.
The highlight of Natale’s career at Hartford came in 2006 when he led the Hawks to a conference best 10th America East Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks rebounded from a tough start to finish as one of the hottest teams in the country. The team entered NCAA play with an unbeaten streak of 10 games before falling to 12th-ranked Rutgers in the first round. Hartford, which went undefeated in conference play, knocked off two nationally-ranked opponents and won America East regular season and championship titles. The Hawks also captured four of the six major postseason awards given out by the conference, including Natale and his staff being named America East Coaching Staff of the Year.
In seven seasons Natale has produced 22 all-conference selections, including nine on the first team. In 2006 three players earned major awards–Meagan Riemer (Striker of the Year), Elizabeth Cook (Goalkeeper of the Year) and Kellie Leyland (Defensive Player of the Year). The trio also earned spots on the NSCAA All-Region and NEWISA All-New England teams. Cook and Riemer were first team picks for each while Leyland was a second team choice.
This past summer, Natale had the opportunity to serve as an advance scout for the US Women’s Soccer team as they competed in the World Cup. Natale joined former Hawks coach Mark Krikorian in providing assistant to US Head Coach Pia Sundhage prior to each of the team’s games.
Natale began his collegiate head coaching career in 2004 with the Hawks, leading a young squad to the first round of the America East Championship. He is the fifth head coach in the history of the program.
In the summer of 2006, Natale coached the Western Mass Lady Pioneers of the W-League, one of the most highly-regarded women’s leagues in the world. The team finished with an 11-3-1 record and advanced to the semifinals of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time in team history. Natale–who coached three all-league selections, including the U19 Player of the Year and the league’s scoring champion–was named W-League Coach of the Year.
Before coming to Hartford, Natale was an assistant coach for the Boston Breakers in 2003 and the Philadelphia Charge the previous two years. In that role, he was involved in all aspects of coaching, including practice planning and coaching, player skill development, scouting, and video game and player analysis. Both franchises reached the playoffs each year of Natale’s tenure in the WUSA. He had the opportunity to gain valuable experience under the guidance of two of the WUSA’s more successful head coaches–Boston’s Pia Sundhage (2002-03 WUSA Coach of the Year) and Philadelphia’s Mark Krikorian (2001-02 WUSA Coach of the Year). Krikorian is a former Hartford women’s head coach (1996-2000).
The Hawks head coaching position represents a homecoming of sorts for Natale, who was a Hartford women’s soccer assistant coach in 1999 (17-4-0 record that year). Prior to that, Natale coached the Wethersfield High School boy’s team for two years. Wethersfield won the Class L state title in 1999 and he was named conference coach of the year that season.
Natale, a Wethersfield native, excelled as a player at Eastern Connecticut State University where he was a captain and participated in the All-New England Senior Bowl. He graduated from ECSU in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He also played professionally for the Western Mass Pioneers of the USL.
