STARKVILLE — Mississippi State soccer is gearing up for another postseason run, starting this weekend in Pensacola, Fla.
The Bulldogs (10-5-1, 5-4-1 SEC) wrapped up their campaign with a quiet 1-0 loss to Georgia on Sunday morning, but is re-energized with a clean slate to work with at the SEC Tournament. With that also came postseason awards. The squad features four All-SEC selections, including the SEC Midfielder of the Year, Ally Perry.
Perry leads the team in goals for the second year in a row, scoring seven and adding another seven assists to help lead the Bulldogs to double-digit wins. Her performances have led to her being named SEC Midfielder of the year, making MSU just the second program with back-to-back winners following Macey Hodge’s claim to the award last season.
Perry is joined by teammates Zoe Main and Hannah Jibril, who earned Third-Team honors, and Adia Symmonds, who made the SEC All-Freshman team.
While the individual accolades are warranted, the team is focused on what’s next. Playing postseason soccer is the new standard in Starkville, and head coach Nick Zimmerman is celebrating the continuity in that regard.
“It’s awesome for the group, they’ve earned this,” he said ahead of the tournament. “We said to them today that it’s tough to make it through the SEC. You look at the past champ, and they’re not playing in it. That just goes to show how tough this conference is and every game matters, every point matters.”
“It’s been exciting,” defender Hannah Jibril added. “I think all of us are excited to be here, be in the postseason. It’s something we have a lot of gratitude for. We’re still trying to get better every day no matter what time of year it is, it’s still the same mentality.”
MSU will meet Oklahoma for the first time this season in the opening round of the conference tournament on Sunday. The winner of that game will face No. 1-seeded Arkansas on Tuesday, the team that has dominated the SEC regular season in recent years and took down MSU 4-2 in Fayetteville earlier this month.
“It’s a one-and-done thing, and that brings everyone’s levels up to just play our hardest, because we don’t know if we’ll have another game,” Perry said. “That’s the beautiful thing about it, but me personally, it gives me more drive to succeed so we can play as many games as we can.”
For Perry, it’s a more emotional ride into the postseason, knowing every game is an opportunity to extend her Bulldog career. She recognizes that from herself, but she also recognizes a spirit within the group that has helped the Bulldogs through high-pressure games. It’s helped them take close wins against Top-10 teams Wake Forest and Tennessee, close road wins over Oklahoma State, South Alabama and Alabama, and it’s a quality they hope will continue to serve them well.
“I think usually you don’t see it a lot with younger teams, but with us, I do think when we’re under pressure, we play a lot better,” Perry said. “These games, we rise to the occasion. This will be a great test for us to keep pushing for one another.”
The Bulldogs will face Oklahoma in the First Round of the tournament on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The match will be televised on SEC Network.
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