STARKVILLE — Mississippi State soccer star Ally Perry had a rare opportunity after the 2024 SEC championship season to play professionally in Europe.
A member of a team that graduated nine starters with six now playing in the pro ranks, Perry also had the chance to move abroad and join Italian giants Juventus. The club has won six of the last eight league titles and fields a team that includes eight Italian national team stars. It’s a measure of Perry’s quality that she had the opportunity to join, but she opted to return to Starkville.
Perry sought the advice of the coach who recruited her, and was then newly promoted head coach Nick Zimmerman.
“She came to me and said, ‘I trust you, am I ready?’” Zimmerman reflected. “I said as a soccer player, you’re ready, but from a mentality standpoint, you’re not.”
Perry and Zimmerman had talked about the kind of role she would need to take on as one of the senior leaders in a young 2025 team, and it coincided with her personal goals before she felt ready to take her game to the next level.
“I think that everyone has more they can improve on to be more successful in the next level,” she said. “I saw things I wanted to get to the best of my ability at before taking the opportunity at the next level. Being in a leadership role is something that will really help me … having this experience and just continuing to grow myself on and off the field.”
Perry’s decision to stay a Bulldog hasn’t just seen her game expand, it’s kept the Bulldogs competitive in an increasingly competitive SEC despite the roster turnover and departing seniors. Among them, current Angel City FC midfielder Macey Hodge, a former team captain of the Bulldogs and the beating heart of the team in midfield.
Perry took on the difficult task of wearing the armband after her, but hasn’t missed a beat.
The nuclear option
On Tuesday, Perry was named as one of 35 players in Division I soccer on the Hermann Trophy Midseason Watchlist. As the nation’s top individual honor, the award is essentially the Heisman of college soccer.
It’s easy to see why Perry was named after a quick look at her production.
Perry was MSU’s top scorer in 2024 with 10 goals and four assists in 22 appearances. This season, she already has seven goals and six assists in 12 games.
Perry scored in each of the team’s first five SEC games, including two goals in the final 15 minutes to seal a 3-2 comeback win against No. 1 Tennessee, and an equalizer at the death to save a 1-1 draw against Auburn.
In addition to leading by example, Perry is regularly shouting instructions and rallying the troops. When the team concedes, Perry is there in the huddle, urging calm and focus. When play is stagnating, she demands the ball and gets things moving again. When the game is on the line and the Bulldogs need a goal, she is the team’s talisman who can create her own shot or set up a teammate.
She isn’t just a goalscorer, she’s a captain, and the Bulldogs are better for it.
“Let’s not jinx that,” Zimmerman chuckled when asked about Perry’s form. “Yeah, Ally’s playing with a really high confidence level right now, and that’s a testament to all the hard work. It’s being in the right place at the right time, executing at a really high level, and the trust in her teammates. It’s really cool to see, and she’s come up big for us here, not just this year, but over the years. We’re happy that Ally Perry is a part of Mississippi State soccer.”
Beyond the statsheet
In MSU’s Magnolia Cup win over Ole Miss, Perry showed her leadership in a quick decision that changed the course of the game. Stuck in a 0-0 deadlock with the clock ticking down, Perry acted quickly on a set-piece routine.
“When I was going to take the free kick, everyone was asking, ‘What are we running?’” she said of the moment. “We ran that exact one, it was our last free kick in practice, and I just said we’re doing that exact thing again.”
The routine had worked in practice, and worked again to open the scoring with Naila Schoefberger converting Perry’s cross into a goal.
“I just put it in the spot I was told to,” Perry continued. “Nai did a great job being where she was supposed to, fighting for it. In the second and third phase, we didn’t give up, and that’s fight. That’s grit.”
She may have simplified her role in the decision, but it was another case of living up to the standard she and her head coach had set for herself before the season.
Perry came into the season focused on leadership, not only to become a better player, but a better teammate. Her performances continue to show that both are true in her case.
“That’s something that we felt was really important,” Zimmerman said of his offseason conversations with Perry. “We want to put players in environments to have success, and we felt like her taking on that leadership role in another year could really continue to make her an even better player than she already is.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
