Cristian Materazzi enters his fourth season as a volunteer assistant with the West Virginia University women’s soccer team. He serves as WVU’s goalkeeper coach, while assisting with the team’s daily training sessions and game preparations.
Materazzi helped the Mountaineers post a 12-8-2 mark in 2019. The squad reached the NCAA Tournament Third Round for the fourth time in five years and were led by senior goalkeeper and co-captain Rylee Foster. An All-Big 12 Second Team selection, Foster made career single-season best 87 saves for the Mountaineers. She posted nine shutouts in more than 1,900 minutes of work.
Foster finished her WVU career ranked No. 2 in program history in shutouts (39) and minutes (7,670:10) and No. 5 in saves (202) and goals against average (0.72).
Foster, who also was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Second Team and was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, signed a professional contract with English side Liverpool FC.
In 2018, Materazzi coached Foster to United Soccer Coaches All-America Third Team honors, the first netminder in program history to earn an All-America award. The 2018 All-Big 12 First Team member also was a MAC Hermann Trophy candidate and a finalist for the CONCACAF Female Goalkeeper of the Year.
Foster started all 23 matches between the posts in 2018 and logged 2,133:38 minutes, the fourth-most nationally and the second-most in a single season for a Mountaineer goalkeeper. She made 34 saves for a 0.723 save percentage and earned credit for 11 of WVU’s 12 shutouts, which ranked No. 6 nationally. Foster finished the year with a 0.55 goals-against average (GAA), the second-best mark in the Big 12 and No. 14 nationally. She allowed 13 goals all season.
WVU finished the 2018 season at 15-4-4 and won the Big 12 Conference Championship title on the strength of three consecutive shutouts by Foster.
In 2017, the WVU goalkeeping unit posted 13 shutouts, 12 credited to Foster, and ranked No. 20 nationally with a 0.565 shutout percentage. The unit also ranked No. 25 nationally with a 0.670 GAA. The Mountaineers finished the season at 16-4-3.
The Mountaineers’ starting goalkeeper for all 23 matches in 2017, Foster finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference with a 0.64 GAA. At season’s end, she ranked No. 5 among active Division I players with a 0.55 career GAA and No. 30 with 20 career shutouts. Foster was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team, her second career all-region accolade and first career first-team award, and also was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team for the second consecutive year.
Materazzi also spent four seasons as head coach at Alderson Broaddus. The second coach in program history, he led the Battlers to a 3-12-2 showing in 2017. In 2016, the squad finished 6-9-2, and three athletes were named to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) All-Conference team.
The squad went 7-12 in 2015 en route to its second straight appearance in the G-MAC Women’s Soccer Championship.
In his first season as head coach, Materazzi led the team to the semifinals of the G-MAC Championship following a 2-0, opening-round win over Davis & Elkins. The Battlers finished 6-12-1, and forward Lauren Small was named the G-MAC Freshman of the Year and ECAC Rookie of the Year.
Prior to his elevation as head coach, Materazzi previously served two separate stints as an assistant coach with the Battlers, first from 2009-10 and then from 2012-13. During this time, he helped goalkeeper Katie Laird earn the 2011 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Player of the Year honor, as well as three all-region recognitions. She finished her career at AB with 38 career shutouts, a mark which ranks seventh all-time in NCAA Division II. Additionally, he helped the Battlers win the 2012 WVIAC regular-season championship.
In 2011, Materazzi served as the first assistant coach for men’s soccer at Stetson, where he helped the Hatters to a 10-5-4 record en route to an appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
During his first stint at AB, Materazzi also served as a volunteer assistant at WVU in 2010. The Mountaineers went 18-5-1 that season and claimed the Big East Conference Championship title. Goalkeeper Kerri Butler finished the year with 14 shutouts, the best season total in program history, and posted a 0.82 goals-against average.
Prior to his time at AB, Materazzi spent five years as an assistant with the Cal State University Monterery Bay men’s and women’s soccer programs.
A three-year varsity letter winner at CSUMB as a goalkeeper, he played professionally in 2003 with California Gold, a United Soccer League PSL team. He also spent the 2004 season with Club America, a Mexican Primera Division team, on a trial basis.
Materazzi holds an NSCAA Advanced National Diploma.
Materazzi resides in Morgantown with his wife, Courtney, and their son, Dominic James.
