LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell Women's Soccer Head Coach
Mira Novak has announced the addition of
Taylor Burgess as an assistant coach ahead of the 2025 season. Burgess recently completed a successful collegiate playing tenure for the River Hawks, serving as the starting goalkeeper for the previous three seasons.
"I am grateful to add Taylor to our staff in a coaching capacity," said Novak. "Taylor has already spent this spring season with us as a student-coach and demonstrated she is more than capable of helping the team perform. Taylor will be working primarily with our goalkeeper unit, and I am thrilled for her to begin her collegiate coaching career at UMass Lowell. She has a bright future as a coach, and we look forward to her impact on the team throughout the season."
Although she only wrapped up her playing career last season, Burgess already has a plethora of coaching experiences under her belt, most recently coaching for New Hampshire ODP and FC Stars this spring. Taking on the role of assistant goalkeeper coach for New Hampshire ODP, Burgess assisted head goalkeeper coaches during ODP training sessions and trained elite goalkeepers from the region. With FC Stars, she assisted with practices, drills, and games, all while learning how to develop, train, and be a mentor to a variety of age groups.
"As a recent graduate of UMass Lowell and a six-year alum of the women's soccer program, I am incredibly excited and proud to continue my journey with this team," commented Burgess. "This program has been a defining part of my life, and I am truly honored to now support it from a different role. I want to sincerely thank Head Coach
Mira Novak, and Assistants James Thorpe and Victoria Vargas for giving me the opportunity to begin my collegiate coaching career and for taking me under their wings. Their guidance means a great deal to me, and I am excited to keep learning from them. This group has so much potential, and I look forward to seeing how they flourish in the upcoming season. It's a special team with a special culture, and I'm grateful to still be a part of it."
During her six-year playing career as a River Hawk, Burgess made 57 appearances with 56 starts in net, including starting 18 games each of the last two seasons. Posting 21 career wins, the second most in Division I history, she allowed only 80 goals while making 291 saves, good for a .784 career save percentage.
Upon completing her playing career, Burgess served as a student coach. In that role, she created drills and exercises for Division I level players, assisted with scheduling and equipment and gear management, and helped prepare for trainings and games, all while learning under coaches Novak, Thorpe, and Vargas.
Burgess graduated from UMass Lowell with her bachelor's in criminal justice in 2023 before earning her master's this spring.
