Mississippi State women’s soccer ascended in 2024.
The Bulldogs became the queens of the Southeastern Conference, drew record crowds to the MSU Soccer Field, and saw six graduates sign professional contracts.
A preseason poll by United Soccer Coaches has the Bulldogs ranked 20th in the country despite losing so much experience from last year. The hype is still there around the program with Nick Zimmerman elevated to head coach after six years as James Armstrong’s No. 2.
“Really not that much difference,” forward Ally Perry said of Zimmerman moving from assistant to head coach. “It’s still his same energy, his same soccer IQ. What we’re doing in practice is still the same, a smooth transition.”
Perry was the top goalscorer for the Bulldogs in 2024 and the most prominent returning player from the squad that won the SEC regular season title. Her role as an attacking threat went beyond scoring, though. She helped maintain a constant press from the front, embodying what Zimmerman is looking for in recruits to maintain both success on the field and the culture of accountability in the locker room.
“I think we’re a team now that we have an idea of who we are and what we’re about,” Zimmerman said, “but also bringing in certain players and new players along with new staff, it’s continuing to evolve on that. I think the game is continuing to evolve, and we want to make sure that our identity stays true to the Mississippi State fans of being hard-nosed, hardworking.”
Over the last few seasons, the Bulldogs have developed into a high-pressing team that sustains possession and creates attacking opportunities through an aggressive, team-wide defensive approach. Zimmerman worked closely with the forwards during that time, in addition to his recruiting and scouting duties. His continuity with the program, as well as the retention of talent, has put the Bulldogs in a position to continue building on their established identity.
“We’re gonna be relentless,” he continued, “we’re gonna be a team that is high risk, high reward. We want to create chances, high press, we want to be a team that is one Mississippi State fans come and watch and they want to come back.”
Perry leads a small but match-tested group of returning upperclassmen that includes defender Naila Schoefberger, forward Zoe Main and midfielder Alivia Buxton. They’ve taken the responsibility of stepping up and providing leadership within a team that had plenty of shoes to fill this spring.
“This year we have a bunch of new faces, which I actually feel makes it more of a competitive environment because we’re all competing for new spots, new opportunities,” Perry said. “In a sense, there’s even more (competition) than before, and we’re also working on building relationships on and off the field, which we already had some of that in the previous year. I feel like that’s the biggest difference.”
One thing that has remained regardless of personnel is the team identity that Zimmerman helped install over the past six years.
“It’s obviously a different group of girls, but that doesn’t mean our values as a team change,” Shoefberger said. “We did a lot of growing throughout the spring, a lot of hard work, and to see the new girls come and embrace that, and carry that into the fall, is a really good feeling. I don’t think it matters who is here as long as we all have the same belief system and we’re all bought into the same cause.”
The new-look Bulldogs will get their first test this afternoon at 2 p.m. in a home exhibition against Mercer. They’ll travel to Louisiana-Monroe on Aug. 9 for their final exhibition before kicking off their season in Starkville the following Thursday, Aug. 14, against UT Martin.
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