University of Northern Iowa Women's Soccer

Alex Place Thomas was named the seventh head coach of the UNI women's soccer program in November 2025 after serving as the Panthers' interim head coach durin...

Bo McMahon joined the Panther soccer coaching staff ahead of the 2025 season. McMahon, who joined interim head coach Alex Place Thomas and assistant coach Derek Kresbach during the summer month of 2025, assists Place Thomas in the day-to-day operations of the UNI program and the development of Panther student-athletes, with focus on the development of UNI’s goalkeepers. During the 2025 season with the Panthers, McMahon's goalkeeping unit recorded three shutouts on the season against Western Illinois, Viterbo and St. Ambrose, with both goalkeepers averaging under 1.80 goals allowed per match. A Denver, Iowa native, McMahon came to UNI following a three-year playing career at Wartburg, where he appeared in nine career matches as a goalkeeper with a 1.33 goals allowed average. He also spent his freshman season in 2018 as a member of the Knights’ football team as a linebacker. In addition to his experience in soccer, McMahon also coaches basketball at Denver Middle School and works as an Estimator and Project Manager for the Schumacher Elevator Company in Denver. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Wartburg in 2022.

Former Division I standout Kylie Gazza joined the UNI soccer coaching staff as an assistant coach in January 2026. "I am extremely excited to welcome Kylie Gazza to the UNI women’s soccer staff,” said Place Thomas. “Her competitive standards, energy, and leadership will elevate our program and play a key role in building a winning culture in the Missouri Valley Conference." A native of Cumming, Georgia, Gazza comes to Cedar Falls after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Abilene Christian University in Texas. With the Wildcats, she oversaw training with defensive players, helped with scouting and tactical analysis, helped manage recruiting operations and helped direct all aspects of the program’s annual ID Camp. While in west Texas, Gazza also served as a youth coach and program director for the Sting WTX Soccer Club, working as the head coach for the pre-ECNL U12 girls team, while also working with the U13 NPL NTX and ‘09 NPL NTX teams, focused on technical development and tactical systems. As a student-athlete, Gazza played five years and was a two-year captain at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama with 100 match appearances and 99 career starts. Rounded with a winning and championship mentality, she helped lead the Bulldogs to four Southern Conference (SoCon) regular season titles, three conference tournament championships and three NCAA Tournament berths. A four-time First Team All-SoCon selection, Gazza was named the SoCon’s Defensive Player of