Bella LaCasto - Associate Head Coach - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Bella LaCasto

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:

Bella LaCasto was promoted to Associate Head Coach in February 2025.

UNC Asheville Women's Soccer Coach Andy McNab announced the addition of Bella Iorio as Assistant Coach on June 6, 2021. Iorio, who was a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs, spent the last year-plus at Barton College serving as an assistant coach on McNab's staff.

"I am delighted to add Bella to the coaching staff, McNab said. "Her knowledge of UNC Asheville and the Big South Conference will be important moving forward. She brings great energy and knowledge of the game, as well as successful spells as an assistant at Concord and Barton."

In her fourth season in 2024, LaCasto helped the program to four wins and the program's first berth in the Big South Conference Tournament since 2016, earning the No. 6 seed on the final day of the regular season with a 1-0 win at Charleston Southern. Freshman Mercedes McNabb earned Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 23 after becoming the first Bulldog freshman since 2012 to score a hat trick, while McNabb was later named to the All-Conference Second Team along with team captain Anna Doane. Ava Bjorkman-Tracy was selected as All-Conference Honorable Mention, and also named to the All-Academic Team.

In her third season in 2023, LaCasto helped the program to its first winning season since 2015 as the Bulldogs posted a record of 7-6-4. Asheville also tied a program record this season going seven matches without a loss (Aug. 20-Sept. 23). Asheville collected five weekly awards along the way, beginning with Karlee Benz earning Big South Conference Co-Freshman of the Week honors (Aug. 21) and Lexi Dooley earning Defensive Player of the Week honors that same day. Nao Kawasaki (Aug. 28), Shae Hassig (Sept. 5) and Anna Doane (Sept. 11) would also earn Big South Conference weekly honors throughout the season. The program also boasted six College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, and the team earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the second straight season.

In her second season in 2022, LaCasto coached three All-Conference selections in Azalea Mihalovich (Second Team and All-Freshman Team), Anna Doane (Second Team) and Bronwyn Luitwieler (All-Academic Team). McNab also featured six College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections on his roster in Jasmine Barry, Ava Bjorkman-Tracy, Carson Bogan, Barrett Eidson, Olivia Lenderman and Luitwieler.

In her first season helping lead the Bulldogs, LaCasto and McNab coached Asheville to their most conference wins since 2004 (five) and their most overall wins since 2016 (six). After winning three of their last four matches, Asheville went 6-11-1 overall and 5-5 in Big South play. The Bulldogs had three players earn All-Big South Honors in Gillian Oyos (Second Team), Kaiya Boyd (Honorable Mention), and Taylor Gardner (All-Freshman), while Courtney O'Malley was named to the All-Academic squad.

LaCasto joined McNab at Barton in 2020, helping the Bulldogs post a record of 4-4-1 in a COVID-shortened season in the spring of 2021. Prior to her time at Barton, Iorio worked as an assistant coach at Concord University in West Virginia. While at Concord, Iorio coached a pair of All-Americans (Leah Foster, Mira Kontio), nine All-Mountain East Conference selections and seven all-region selections while helping guide the Mountain Lions to a 19-2 record in 2019.

While at Asheville, the former Bella Iorio started 58 of 74 games played at midfield for the Bulldogs, starting 32 of her last 33 games while serving as a team captain in her junior and senior seasons. A native of Clayton, North Carolina, Iorio graduated from UNC Asheville in 2019 with a degree in health and wellness promotion and earned her master's degree in Concord in May of 2021 in health promotion.

"I am so excited to be back at UNC Asheville as an assistant coach and to be working alongside Coach McNab once again! I look forward to being a part of the next chapter of UNC Asheville Women's Soccer and cannot wait to get started."