The Troy women’s soccer program is looking ahead to the 2024 season with eight incoming freshmen added to the squad in November.
The Trojans, led by head coach Stuart Gore and his assistants Eric Masters and Kayla Saager, have been hard at work on the recruiting trail building for the upcoming season and beyond with players coming in from Indiana all the way to Washington.
One of the local signings was Mia Jackson, a 5-foot-8-inch forward from Mill Creek High School in Atlanta. Jackson starred in high school with 23 goals and impressed so much in her freshman season that he took home offensive player of the year honors.
“She’s quick, she’s feisty, she’s strong,” Gore said. “She’s technical, she comes from Atlanta and comes from a good club background.
“She’s everything you need in a forward: pace, size and strength.”
The Trojans managed to add another forward to their attacking department with the signing of Sofia Sasan. Sasan has put up more-than-impressive numbers in front of goal at Sparkman High School, bagging 57 goals and earning three first-team all-metro awards.
“Sofia is a bull in a China shop. She came to our ID camp and most of the girls on the team worked the ID camp, and the first thing they all said was you better sign her because we don’t want to play against her. That’s a pretty good indicator,” said Gore.
Megan Hamm is set to join the Trojans and bolster their midfield ranks. The 5-foot-6-inch midfielder stood out during all four years at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana with 35 goals scored and 27 assists tallied.
“Megan’s one of those quiet assassins,” Gore said. “Technically, she can play with both feet and is a good dribbler. I think she’s the one that people will be surprised at.”
Hailing from Columbia, Maryland is Carlin Costell, a defender who can also play as a midfielder. The versatile Costell was a part of the Glenelg High School team that lifted the state championship and 2023, and she took home all-state honors in 2022 and 2023.
“Carly can play as an attacking midfielder or a defensive midfielder. She’ll play outside back, she’s tough, she’s got a good background in soccer.”
Moving over to the defensive side of things, defender Imani Hamilton is set to help shore up the backline. Hamilton and Sasan were club teammates and the duo have also played together at Sparkman High School in Huntsville.
“She’s 5 foot 10 inches, great athlete, super calm, cool and collected under pressure. She’s definitely one we’re looking at coming in defensively and pushing to make an impact,” Gore said.
Brooke Slater is another versatile defender joining the Trojans. The Palm Harbor, Florida native has nine years of club soccer experience and currently plays her trade for Florida Premier. Slater typically plays left back, but she can also take on centerback and forward roles.
“Brook’s our left back,” said Gore. “She gets up and down the field, she’s physical. One thing we (the coaching staff) learned from our first year in the Sun Belt was that it’s a physical league.”
Gore explained that the team also added two more players in the previous week to go along with the six players signed in November for their 2024 class.
“We signed Riley Wright out of Tampa, [Florida]. She’s an attacking midfielder, she’s hard-working, a great player.
“The last one we’ve signed is Hayley Phillips. She’s from Seattle, Washington, she’s a center-forward and attacking midfielder. A good player that can play with both feet. She’ll definitely make an impact.
Gore explained that now with one full season of Sun Belt Conference action and his first full recruiting class as head coach, he and his staff feel better prepared ahead of their second campaign.
“I feel we now have a much better understanding of what the Sun Belt is and how competitive it is from top to bottom, and how you needed depth, and we just didn’t have that.
“I think we led 60% of our conference games and we still lost. I think that was more of just we ran out of gas than anything else.
“But I definitely feel the 2024 class is going to raise the floor and give us depth off the bench.”
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