Mississippi State soccer celebrated a memorable win to kick off its Southeastern Conference regular season title defense on Friday, coming from behind in the second half to defeat No. 1 Tennessee in the final moments of the match.
MSU forward and captain Ally Perry scored two goals in the final 15 minutes, netting the winner with just over one minute left on the clock.
Perry’s efforts earned her SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors, her first of the 2025 season but third career award, as well as making the TopDrawerSoccer women’s team of the week.
Her heroics on Friday came with the team trailing 2-1 and in danger of conceding again as Tennessee swarmed forward.
“We said we just needed a moment,” head coach Nick Zimmerman said. “One moment of magic, one moment of brilliance.”
The team conceded twice in three minutes early in the second half, and saw the Vols hit the frame of the goal as well. It took some work to break forward again, and once they did it was the captain who made magic happen with the ball at her feet.
“You know that Ally Perry, she’s pretty good at soccer,” he added. “She made it count. Again, it’s an individual effort, an absolute missile that scores. We were sitting there, as soon as she takes that touch, as soon as she hits it, we’re all like, ‘It’s in.’”
Perry put the team on her back with a ferocious strike to draw level in the 75th minute of the match, creating space herself and firing between defenders from the edge of the 18-yard box. The goal sparked something in the Bulldogs as a team, but Perry was immediately on the hunt again for goals. She exuded confidence and leadership in the final minutes, putting the work in defensively as well, and with a minute left, she found herself on the end of a pass from Adia Symmonds to fire in the winner from close to the same spot as her first strike.
“It just felt surreal,” co-captain Zoe Main said. “Ally came up huge for us, and you know, big players, big moments. I think that’s what it came down to: finishing our chances, being efficient. We knew that’s what we needed to do coming into the game, and that’s what we did.”
The win saw MSU climb back into the United Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 rankings, moving up to No. 12 in the nation. The Bulldogs also climbed up four spots in the TDS Top 25, moving to No. 13.
The Bulldogs hit the road tomorrow to continue SEC play against Texas in Austin, and then return home for the visit of Auburn and former head coach James Armstrong on Sunday.
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