Coaches

Stuart Gore

National Championship winning head coach Stuart Gore begins his first season as Troy's soccer head coach. Gore comes to Troy with seven years of collegiate head coaching experience, having won 81.3 percent of his games and five conference championships.


Gore comes to Troy following a highly successful two-year stint as the head coach at Northwestern State, where he led the Demons to 25 wins, an NCAA Tournament appearance, two Southland Conference Player of the Year honorees and a No. 61 final RPI ranking in 2022.


Under Gore's leadership, Northwestern State led the country in corners in 2022 and ranked in the top 25 percent nationally in all attacking and defending categories. The Demons finished the 2022 season with a 12-4-3 overall record. Additionally, Gore added Gracie Armstrong to the program as a graduate transfer, and she would go on to earn Southland Conference Player of the Year honors after scoring 26 points with nine goals and eight assists.


Armstrong's honor was the second in as many years for Gore and the Demons after Olivia Draguicevich was named the SLC Player of the Year in 2021. Northwestern State won the SLC regular season and tournament championships to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. The regular season championship was the program's first since 2000 and earned Gore SLC Coach of the Year honors.


The Demons' goalkeeper Acelya Aydogmus posted 12 shutouts during the championship season, the second-most in the country, while Draguicevich's seven game-winning goals also ranked second nationally.


Between his tenures as head coach at Northwestern State and Northwestern Ohio, Gore served as the associate head coach at North Dakota (2020) and James Madison (2018-19).


Gore built the Northwestern Ohio program from the ground up, leading the Racers to an NAIA National Championships, four straight NAIA Final Four appearances, a 100-15-5 overall record, a national player of the year and 23 All-Americans.


He had immediate success in the program's inaugural season, leading Northwestern Ohio to a 15-5-1 record, springboarding the program to four straight 20-win seasons before he moved on to James Madison.


It took just three seasons for Gore to lead the Racers to the NAIA National Championship Game and 16 shutouts (most in the country) and then in Gore's fourth season, he brought a National Championship to the program. The 2016 squad led the country with 20 shutouts, boasting the National Player of the Year and five All-Americans.


Prior to Northwestern Ohio, Gore accumulated coaching experience at every level of soccer. Before joining the Racers, he was the head coach for the Philadelphia Fever of the WPSL (2011-12) and the Director of Coaching at Washington United Soccer Club (2009-12).


As a player, Gore represented England at nearly every youth level, playing for his country's U14 through U18 teams from 1993-2001, in addition to competing with Leeds United from 1996-2000. In America, Gore was a two-time all-conference pick at Montevallo, before signing a professional contract with UD Lorca of the Spanish Segunda División.


Collegiate Coaching History

2022 – Northwestern State (Head Coach) – 12-4-3 (No. 61 RPI)

2021 – Northwestern State (Head Coach) – 13-6-1 (Southland Conference Champions)

2020 – North Dakota (Associate Head Coach)

2019 – James Madison (Associate Head Coach)

2018 – James Madison (Associate Head Coach / CAA Regular Season Champions)

2017 – Northwestern Ohio (Head Coach) – 20-3-1 (NAIA Semifinals)

2016 – Northwestern Ohio (Head Coach) – 23-2-1 (NAIA National Champions)

2015 – Northwestern Ohio (Head Coach) – 20-3-2 (NAIA Semifinals)

2014 – Northwestern Ohio (Head Coach) – 22-2-1 (NAIA Championship Game)

2013 – Northwestern Ohio (Head Coach) – 15-5-1 (Program's Inaugural Season)

Eric Masters

Troy women’s soccer head coach Stuart Gore officially named Eric Masters as the new Associate Head Coach / Recruiting Coordinator Tuesday morning, reuniting after spending two seasons with two programs.


“I am very excited that Eric has joined us at Troy,” Gore said. “Eric is a proven soccer mind with an exceptional eye for talent. He’s one of the best goalkeeper coaches in the country, and it’s fantastic to continue working alongside him.”


Effective immediately, Masters will oversee the recruiting process for the program while working primarily with the goalkeeper unit after over a decade of experience coaching and playing the position.


“I would like to thank Stu for his continued support and belief in my ability,” Gore said. “I look forward to working alongside both him and Kayla at Troy. I would like to thank my family for their support, especially my wife, Margie. The Troy executive staff and coaches have been super supportive of what we want to achieve here at Troy. We look forward to creating new history and heights for the women’s soccer program at Troy University.”


The Masters / Gore connection returns for the third time after both coaches spent the 2020 season together at North Dakota before Northwestern State in 2022.


While at Northwestern State, Masters helped Gore bring the team to a 12-4-3 overall record and 8-2-2 in the Southland Conference for second in the regular season race. The Lady Demons went to the semifinals, riding a seven-game win streak before falling in overtime, 3-2.


Gore also coached seven players to Southland All-Conference honors, including the Player and Newcomer of the Year, Gracie Armstrong, and the All-Conference Second Team goalkeeper, Chloe DeShazer. In 2022, Northwestern State led the league in shots, points and goals. On the defensive end, Gore coached the Lady Devils to the second-most shutouts in the league at seven and a 76.6 percent save percentage – second in Southland.


Before the Lady Devils, Masters coached one season at Colorado State, where he led the team to four shutouts and held 12 of its 17 opponents to one goal or less. In addition, the Long Island University-Brooklyn graduate coached his freshman goalkeeper, Shayna Ross, to the All-Mountain West Newcomer team that season.


For the 2020 season, Masters coached the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota to a 5-9 record with three shutouts alongside Gore.


The levels range for Masters as he coached in the high school and club soccer scene for 10 seasons in Nevada before hitting the collegiate coaching circuit.


His playing career peaked at the professional level when he served with Capital Soccer Club, Carson FC, Northern Nevada ODP and the United Soccer Club. The former goalkeeper brought Carson to one regular-season title in his two years.


In his collegiate playing career at LIU-Brooklyn, Masters propelled the Blackbirds to a conference championship that included a 2004 NCAA Tournament appearance and two additional runner-up finishes.


While leading his team to titles, Masters graduated in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science before obtaining his masters in exercise science in 2006 as a Graduate Assistant coach for LIU-Brooklyn.


Joining Masters in his journey to Troy is his wife, Margie, daughters, Shay and Mia and son, Maddox.

Kayla Saager

Saager enters her fourth season as a women’s soccer coach after joining in 2020 as a part-time assistant coach. In those three seasons, Saager has worked under three head coaches, Robert Lane, Ged O’Connor and Nicole Waters, for a combined record of 14-29-6 - 3-9-4 as assistant coach. She also helped coach Lindsey LaRoche to an All-Sun Belt Second Team back in 2021.


The New York native earned her degree in Sociology from Binghamton University in 2018, playing collegiate soccer for the Bearcats after transferring from NC State (2014) and West Virginia (2015). After graduating from Binghamton, Saager went overseas to the Czech Republic to play professionally with the FC Slovacko Zeny in 2019.


While playing with the Bearcats, Saager was named the 2017 America East Striker of the Year after scoring 11 goals and dishing off seven assists. After two seasons with Binghamton, Saager left her mark with the SUNY school, ranking second all-time in goals per game (0.59) and points per game (1.51).

No Men's Soccer Program