Girls Soccer Player of the Year: Perkins thrives with help from big sis

Perkins, a sophomore forward, scored 39 goals for Lafayette in the 2022-23 season. Several of those came off passes from her sister Julia, a senior, who had 15 assists.

“She knows what I’m about to do, and I know what she’s about to do,” Caroline said. “I know when to make the run, and she knows exactly when to play the ball.”

The Perkins sisters have been playing soccer together for years, and it’s been a symbiotic relationship. There is no sibling rivalry.

“I love being on the team with Julia,” Caroline said. “Me and her help each other out and encourage each other throughout the season.”

Caroline scored 33 goals as a freshman, but she knew she could be better. She did extra training, tried out new moves, and talked with coach Melinda Scruggs about ways she could improve.

“Within specifically the last year, you can tell her soccer drive has really taken off,” Scruggs said.

The drive has always been there, of course. Perkins once played travel soccer with much older players, including former Oxford star Morgan O’Connor, who went on to play at Ole Miss and is now at Central Florida.

Perkins said she wasn’t intimidated playing up in age.

“I loved playing with them. I pushed myself even more,” she said.

She’ll need that kind of drive next season. With Julia graduating this year, Caroline won’t have big sis to lean on. But the latter is setting high goals – she not only wants to exceed her scoring total from this season, she also wants to surpass the 54 goals O’Connor scored at Oxford during the 2016-17 season.

It’s a lofty aim, but if Perkins falls short it won’t be for lack of skill or effort.

“Her shots are rockets, and she’s constantly working on that,” Scruggs said. “Probably one of the hardest shots I’ve seen as a female coming out of here. … She’s got the power, the accuracy. She’s just continued to work on that.”

The Lady Commodores went 17-5-1 this season and lost to Saltillo in the Class 5A state semifinals. Lafayette had reached the title game each of the previous four seasons, winning it all on three occasions.

Suffice to say, Perkins and her teammates have a little extra motivation.

“It was kind of a wakeup call for everybody,” she said. “We’re like, oh, we don’t go to state every year. We have to actually work for it. … Even in the offseason we usually kind of take it slow, but we hit the ground running (this) offseason, so I think we’ll be ready next year.”