TECHNICAL STAFF
CHRIS PETRUCELLI
Head Coach
Petrucelli is a two-time National Coach of The Year award winner and an NCAA Championship Coach. In 31 years, Petrucelli compiled a 427-182-54 record giving him the seventh highest winning percentage among Division I coaches and ranks seventh overall in victories among Division I women’s soccer coaches. In 1995 Petrucelli led the University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team to a NCAA national title.
​
The 59-year-old coach started his career in 1984 as an assistant coach for Old Dominion University men’s soccer team and spent time coaching at Notre Dame and University of Texas-Austin, on the collegiate level. Nationally, Petrucelli coached the under-21 and under-19 United States Women’s National Teams. Since 2013 Petrucelli has served as a scout and training center coach for the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). The New Jersey native holds a USSF A coaching license and a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Advanced National Diploma. As a player Petrucelli helped lead the University of North Carolina-Greensboro to two Division III titles in 1982 and 1983. As a senior he was named co-captain of the team.
RADE TANASKOVIC
Goalkeeper Coach
Rade Tanaskovic (pronounced Rah-day Tah-NAS-KOV-itch) is in his fourth season with the Chicago Red Stars. During his tenure, the Red Stars finished as NWSL runners-up in 2019 and 2021 in addition to reaching the final of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.
​
Tanaskovic plays an integral part in the planning and implementation of team training sessions as well as the scouting, training and execution on set pieces. He also works on opponents scouting and with the goalkeepers.
Prior to his time in Chicago, Tanaskovic coached collegiately at the University of Iowa, University of Louisville, Columbus State University and Emmanuel College. In all four stops, he assisted with day-to-day operations, training sessions, recruiting and video analysis. During his collegiate coaching career, Tanaskovic coached three All-Americans and 14 All-Conference selections.
Before joining the collegiate ranks, Tanaskovic spent time as an assistant coach with FC Red Star Belgrade, formerly ŽFK LASK, a club in the top-level league in his home country of Serbia.
Tanaskovic played collegiate soccer at the University of North Georgia, where he was a three-time All-Peach Belt Conference goalkeeper and holds the program record for career saves. He was inducted into the UNG Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.
In addition to his role with the Red Stars, Tanaskovic wored as a goalkeeper coach with the U.S. Soccer National Training Centers in Atlanta and Cincinnati. He most recently was coached with USWNT U23s at the Nordic Cup in 2019, USYNT U18s at the Tricontinental Cup in Florida in 2020 and U23 USWNT Training camp in January of 2022.
​
Tanaskovic and his wife Courtney reside in La Grange with their son, Andrej.
ELLA MASAR
Assistant Coach
Ella Masar is an assistant coach for the Chicago Red Stars. The Illinois native returned home in 2023 after spending the 2022 season with the Kansas City Current where she also served as an assistant coach. Holding a UEFA A and B license, Masar has also coached professionally with Real Madrid (Spain). Prior to coaching, Masar was a professional player with the Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, VfL Wolfsburg and FC Rosengard. Some of Masar’s achievements as a player include being the best goal scorer for the Red Stars and Rosengard (2010, 2016), German Cup and Frauen Bundesliga Champion (2018 and 2019) and Swedish Cup winner (2017).
MEDICAL STAFF
Orthopaedic Surgery - Sports Medicine
EMILY FORTUNATO
Head Athletic Trainer
​
Fortunato, Athletic Trainer and member of the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, the official medical partner of the Chicago Red Stars, enters her second season with the Chicago Red Stars Medical Team. She spent three seasons with the Utah Royals FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) where she oversaw all day-to-day operations of the medical department and developed their concussion management protocol. Prior to the Royals, Fortunato served on the athletic training staff for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA from 2015-2017. She also has experience in Division I athletics, covering women’s basketball, women’s soccer, baseball and softball at George Mason University. Since 2013, Fortunato has been a network provider for US Soccer, assisting the federation’s full-time medical staff during various training camps, tournaments and friendlies. She was recently on staff during the team’s World Cup run in 2019 and Olympic qualifiers in January of 2020.
​
Fortunato received her bachelor’s degree in athletic training from The George Washington University in 2007 and her master’s in Exercise, Fitness, and Health Promotion from George Mason University in 2009.
Orthopaedic Surgery - Sports Medicine
JAKE ROY
High Performance Director
A certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Jake Roy joined the Red Stars in 2022 as the team’s High Performance Director after working for over ten years with various teams to improve their performance. Originally from Oregon, Roy held Assistant Strength Coaching positions with professional baseball teams including the 2011 World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals and the 2012 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants. On the collegiate level, Roy worked at multiple universities, including USC Upstate as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and, most recently, at Bowling Green State University as the Director of Strength and Conditioning. Roy was recognized at USC Upstate with their Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Coach’s Heart Award in 2018 and he is also a certified Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.