Pete Curtis
Pete Curtis is a veteran collegiate soccer coach who completed his sixth season as head coach at Washington & Jefferson College in 2012. This fall marked the 23rd year of collegiate coaching for Curtis, including head coaching stints at all three NCAA divisions.
Curtis has transformed the W&J women's soccer program as the Presidents earned three consecutive conference championships from 2008-2010, the first three titles in school history. W&J has competed in the PAC title match in four of the five years since Curtis arrived on campus.
The 2010 Presidents' Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Curtis has compiled a 74-42-10 (.638) record in five seasons at Washington & Jefferson. In 21 years of coaching collegiate soccer, Curtis has compiled 197 career victories.
In 2011, Curtis led the Presidents to the first regular-season PAC Championship in school history following an 8-0-1 record in conference play. Under Curtis' guidance, W&J set a new school-record low for goals allowed during three consecutive seasons. W&J gave up 13 goals in 2011, surpassing the record of 16 set in 2010.
Curtis has aided in the development of Holly Shipley, who was named PAC Player of the Year in 2011. Shipley, who played mostly defense prior to arriving in Washington, led the team with 12 goals as a forward.
W&J claimed the 2010 PAC championship with a 3-0 victory over Westminster. The Presidents earned a third-straight trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The conference championship also follows two-straight, record-breaking seasons.
W&J set a school record with 15 wins during its 2008 season on the way to its first-ever, PAC Championship. W&J followed that up by knocking off regular-season champion Grove City 1-0 in 2009 to earn its second-straight trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Curtis played a large role in the development of Spencer Ahrenholtz '10, who became the 24th student-athlete overall and the first women's soccer player in school history to be selected to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America Team. She earned All-PAC laurels in all three seasons under Curtis and made the 2009 NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region squad.
The 2008 season was also historic as Curtis was selected as the PAC Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive season after leading the Presidents to their first PAC Championship and NCAA postseason appearance in school history. He earned his third PAC Coach of the Year honor last season. W&J secured the first-ever NCAA victory for a women's program at the college after the Presidents advanced past Marywood on penalty kicks in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament.
The Presidents finished the 2008 season with a school-best 15 wins, but also broke school records for team shutouts (12) and scoreless minutes (755). Curtis helped to develop PAC Most Valuable Player Jackie Foltz into the premier goalkeeper in the conference.
In 2007, Curtis helped the Presidents reach the PAC Tournament Championship Game for the first time in history. W&J battled Westminster to a 1-1 tie, but fell by a 3-2 margin on penalty kicks. The Presidents won four of their last five games of the season, including a 1-0 upset of top-seeded Thomas More in the conference tournament semifinals.
Prior to his arrival at W&J, Curtis served as the head men’s soccer coach at Division I Cleveland State for six seasons. Curtis took over a struggling program and led the 2002 Vikings to their most victories in a season (10) since 1990. Following the 2002 season, Curtis was honored as the Horizon League Coach of the Year, becoming the first coach in Cleveland State history to earn the honor.
In 2003, Curtis helped Stephen Ademolu earn Cleveland State’s first Horizon League Player of Year award.
Before his experience at Cleveland State, Curtis turned the University of Charleston into a Division II men’s soccer powerhouse. He compiled a 68-30-8 record and led the 2002 Golden Eagles to a 21-2 record and a berth in the NCAA Division II national semifinals. Charleston outscored its opponents that season by a 112-10 margin.
For his efforts, Curtis was named both the WVIAC and Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year, and was one of eight candidates in contention for the Division II National Coach of the Year Award. A USSF “A” licensed coach, he also taught in Charleston’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department.
From 1990-1995, Curtis was the head men’s soccer coach at Division III Marietta College. During his years with the Pioneers, he also spent time as the head women’s tennis coach and the assistant softball coach.
A native of Liverpool, England, Curtis has a lengthy association with the game, playing for a trio of English professional teams (Everton, Chester City and South Liverpool) as a young adult. After several years of coaching at soccer camps in the United States, he played for then NAIA-powerhouse Alderson-Broaddus College from 1983-1987, and captained the Battlers to the No. 1 ranking in the nation. In 1998, the two-time Academic All-American was inducted into Alderson-Broaddus’ Hall of Fame.
While completing his master’s degree in Sports Administration at Iowa State University, Curtis coached the Cyclones’ club program to the semifinals of the 1988 National Collegiate Club Soccer Championship.