Cowbell Corner

History rhymes in Starkville as Ally Perry knocks off another No. 1 ranked team

The Bulldogs didn't exactly repeat history Friday night, but what their senior midfielder did struck a familiar tune to the fans in maroon and white.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State soccer players celebrate with Ally Perry, center, after one of her two goals to beat No. 1 Tennessee, 3-2.
Mississippi State soccer players celebrate with Ally Perry, center, after one of her two goals to beat No. 1 Tennessee, 3-2. | Mississippi State Athletics

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Mississippi State Bulldogs

There’s a famous phrase about history that is often quoted by both scholars and history buffs.

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

Well, history didn’t quite repeat itself Friday night at MSU Soccer Field, but it most certainly rhymed. And the rhyme goes something like this:

  • In 2024, No.1 Arkansas lost to a goal scored by Ally Perry.
  • In 2025, No. 1 Tennessee lost to two goals scored by the same Perry.

With a little more than one minute left in Mississippi State’s match against No. 1 Tennessee and the Bulldogs tied, 2-2, and less than minute after receiving a yellow card for “dissent” Perry gestured for her teammates to move more quickly.

She wanted the ball in play. Maybe she saw a weakness? Maybe she saw a goal-scoring opportunity?

The reason was as unclear to viewers as it was, apparently, as it was to the Volunteers.

As the finale seconds ticked by, and the SECN+ put forth arguments about how a tie against the Volunteers was like a win for the Bulldogs, Perry received a pass from outside the penalty box.

And with a kick most of us couldn’t recreate in the video game FIFA, scored a shocking goal.

Not long after, Mississippi State was celebrating its second victory against at a No. 1-ranked team in Starkville.

Bulldogs’ coach Nick Zimmerman and the players, including Perry, will say all the right things about Friday night’s game against the Volunteers.

The Bulldogs were far from perfect, leaving plenty of things to be improved upon. And they’ll also say Perry wouldn’t have been able to do what she did without her teammates.

Both arguments, as well as the others that will arise in the aftermath of this win, will ring true.

So, let it be said in at least one article: Ally Perry won that game for Mississippi State.

Perry played a role in each goal scored by the Bulldogs.

In the 11th minute, Perry sent a pass down the pitch that forced Tennessee goalkeeper Cassidy Norris to charge away from her goal. Norris misplayed the ball, Adia Symmonds tapped the ball towards the middle of the field and Zoe Main sent the ball into a wide-open net.

Then Tennessee’s Anaiyah Robinson – one of the top transfer portal players last offseason and someone who say Perry hand a No. 1-ranked team a defeat last season – made her presence known.

For the final minutes of the first half (well after Main’s goal) and the first 10 minutes of the second half, Robinson was nearly impossible to stop.

Robinson sent a potential, game-tying shot off the crossbar in the 44th minute of the first half, but made up for the miss with two goals before the 55th minute of the second half.

The Volunteers looked to be on their way to a 1-0 start in SEC games as the game progressed, but the Bulldogs didn’t let up.

And when Perry saw her chance she struck in the 74th minute, tying the game at 2-2.

Then, taking page out Brenen Thompson’s book, completely changed the outcome of the game with less than a minute left with a perfectly-struck kick for the win.

Instant Reaction

Mississippi State’s teams must really like forcing us writers to completely rewrite our stories in the waning moments of a game. Or maybe it's just the black jerseys?

Blake Shapen and Brenen Thompson did it last Saturday in impressive fashion.

What Ally Perry did Friday night at the MSU Soccer Field was even more impressive. And the fact it was against the No. 1 ranked team is only a small factor in that determination.

Don't mistake this part of the story as a complaint. I love these kinds of games, these kinds of moments where it seems all hope is lost and then victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat (or jaws of a tie, in this instance).

Two goals in the second half to tie the game and then win the game, sheesh, I struggle to pull that off in FIFA.d

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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