STARKVILLE — It didn’t take long for Catalina Perez to make an impression on her Mississippi State women’s soccer teammates.
The ease Perez had in transferring from Miami to MSU didn’t surprise MSU first-year head coach Tom Anagnost. After all, Anagnost recruited Perez to come to Miami while he served as head coach at the school in 2011-12. He didn’t get a chance to coach Perez after he was let go in April 2013.
But Anagnost knew MSU was getting an exceptionally quick and accomplished goalkeeper who was going to make an impact.
“She has been the best goalie since the first minute she has been here,” Anagnost said. “She has experience, athleticism, she is quick, she reads the play well. Technically she is good. Tactically she is good. She still has, and she knows, significant improvements to make, but she has earned the spot. Everyone knows it.”
Perez will try to help MSU build on its first 2-0 start to the season since 2012 at 7 tonight when it takes on Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana. The match will be streamed live on CUSA.tv (subscription required) and fans can also follow along via live stats.
MaKayla Waldner’s goal gave MSU a 1-0 victory against Stephen F. Austin last Friday. Brooke McKee’s header off a corner kick by Mallory Eubanks lifted MSU to a 2-1 victory against Missouri State on Sunday.
Perez, a 5-foot-8 graduate student, went the distance in both matches. She didn’t have to make a save against SFA and had one against Missouri State.
Anagnost is counting on Perez to be part of a group of 10 seniors that will lead the program. Eubanks and Waldner offered high praise of their new teammate at a preseason media gathering.
“She is probably the best goalkeeper I have ever played against,” Eubanks said.
Waldner, who was sitting to Eubanks’ left, nodded in agreement.
“I can’t score against her. I think her hand strength (is what makes her so good),” Eubanks said. “If she gets a hand on it, it is not going in the goal. She could just get a finger on it and it is like her finger will hit it out, even if I shoot it hard. It is fun to practice against her. Having a goalkeeper like that makes you feel comfortable, but it also pushes me in practice because if I can score against Cat in practice I can score against anybody.”
Perez was born in Bogota, Columbia. She is the daughter of Alejandro and Luz Maria Perez. She said she moved to Florida when she was 4 years old, which is why she is able to play for the Columbian National Team. Her international experience started in 2010, when she played for the Columbian National Team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Germany.
Since then, Perez has played for the Columbian Senior Women’s National Team at the 2016 Olympic Games and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She earned the start in the team’s World Cup Round of 16 match against the United States and didn’t allow a goal in her time in net.
Perez said she wants to continue to play for the Colombian National Team and to play professionally. She feels her work ethic and desire to be the best have helped her reach this level. She is excited to get an opportunity to play for Anagnost.
“Even though I wasn’t able to be coached by Tom in the last few years, knowing him has pushed me to do better in school and in soccer,” said Catalina, who redshirted in 2014 after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Perez said she feels “blessed” to be at MSU and “privileged” to get to play for Anagnost. She said the culture at MSU encourages the players to get better every day. Perez said her teammates are pushing each other so they all can be a part of something special.
Perez, a graduate student, also wants to do something special off the field. She is pursuing a master’s degree in sports administration that she said will provide a “mental break from soccer.” Perez said she isn’t sure what avenue she will take professionally.
“My parents have always pushed me really hard in the classroom, so I hope I can just give it my best in both and have my options open,” Catalina said.
Perez said she “never really has been away from home,” but that her transition has been made easier by welcoming teammates and coaches, as well as a strong support staff that has eased her into her new “home.”
The addition of Betsy Middleton, her former roommate at Miami, as coordinator of soccer operations, has eased the transition, too, for a player Anagnost said will do great things this season and will be a professional after she leaves MSU.
“She can fly, literally,” Anagnost said. “Her name also reflects the quickness. It is pretty special.”
MSU will play host to Central Arkansas at 1 p.m. Sunday at the MSU Soccer Field. The match will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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