October 31, 2021.
 
The Samford women's soccer team made the short trek across Lakeshore Drive to the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium in preparation for the Southern Conference semifinals versus its rivals from the next state over, the Mercer Bears. In the moments after Samford snatched a 1-0 victory from the jaws of overtime, the team huddled, well…collapsed, at the far edge of the field. As bodies lay strewn about in their traditional home white uniforms, a chant could be heard as the game's hero, senior forward Zoë Perrin, made her way to the huddle: "Zo-ë Perr-in, Zo-ë Perr-in, Zo-ë Perr-in.' Perrin yelled back, "No, you guys! You guys!". Some people wear faux humility like a badge of honor, but not Perrin. True humility shines through in every aspect of her life, and that day was no different.
 
But getting to this point wasn't easy. Perrin's collegiate career has been one fraught with injuries, recoveries and even a disease that uprooted everything typical of a college experience. Perrin's story of resilience is a journey of faith, growth and perseverance, leaving her own mark on a rich Samford soccer legacy.
 
Perrin started her recruiting process early, even committing to a power five SEC member, Mississippi State. Perrin was locked in and ready to become an MSU Bulldog, but a coaching change during her junior year in high school, put a halt to her thoughts of collegiate soccer.
 
"I kind of gave up on wanting to go anywhere, like there was a six-month period where I didn't email coaches, I did nothing."
 
Later down the road, as Perrin's recruiting process picked up again, she reached out to several schools, but her connection with head coach Todd Yelton was different.
 
"I knew it was the place for me. When I met Coach, he always talked about family, and I could just tell that it was a place that involved God, and that was something that was very important to me going in."
 
In fact, Perrin was sold with a single glance at Coach Yelton's wrist tattoo, where the words God is Bigger were inscribed. "I saw it, and I knew…It wasn't a long process for me committing here, but it was definitely one that, as soon as I had stepped here and met coach, I knew I needed to be here."
 
2018.
 
During the second game of her high school senior season, Perrin suffered her first ACL tear, just a matter of weeks after she committed to play at Samford University.
 
"Immediately after it happened, I was afraid. I was afraid to call Coach, I don't know what he's going to do. He had all the power. I hadn't signed any papers yet, he had all the power to do whatever he wanted."
 
But when she picked up the phone the voice on the other end wanted nothing more than to help, however he could. "Hearing that he still wanted me to come here and was willing to help was huge."
 
But anyone who has recovered from an injury will tell you that it is a difficult journey. Add into that the transition from high school to college, and the recovery process becomes hard, really hard. "Coming in, it was rocky to begin the transition from doing therapy at home to doing therapy, or just being with an athletic trainer here was tough."
 
But it was John McBryde that came in and really catapulted Perrin's first ACL recovery. "I'm super thankful for him and the way that he helped me finish through that first recovery, and it was tough not being able to play, but it was also something that I knew was going to take time."
 
2019.
 
Perrin returned to the field for the 2019 season playing in seven games for the Bulldogs. Things were progressing as she began to get her feet under her in collegiate soccer. "I believe it was the Furman weekend…I go in to jump over somebody's leg and go for the ball and I feel a little something off."
 
It was checked out, and everything seemed fine, so after a few days off, Perrin returned to practice. "I literally just turn, like nothing else, I'm literally turning, and I felt it." To imagine just finishing this recovery process only to find yourself back at the beginning just a matter of months later is a crushing blow. Perrin knew right away, "It was devastating. I was like, 'Really?  Again? Like I just finished this process,'" only to find herself back at the beginning.
 
This is the part of the story where most people throw in the towel. It just wasn't meant to be, but for Perrin, it was time to dig in and battle back.
 
"I never felt like I had a fair chance at being a college athlete, at being able to play college soccer, something I dreamed of; and I knew I wasn't done here." There was still more that she had to show, more she wanted to accomplish. Perrin didn't allow herself to stay caught up in the, "Why me?" Instead, Perrin focused on doing all she could to recover and come back stronger than ever. "Ok, yes it happened, but you have these great people around you who are going to push you and help you get back." No second guessing. No giving up.
 
2021.
 
The 2020 fall season was postponed to the spring of 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, putting a delay to Perrin's return to game action. In the spring of 2021, the Bulldogs won their seventh-straight regular season SoCon title, as Perrin saw action in nine games coming off her second ACL recovery. As the COVID season went on, Perrin started to notice something off with her knee.
 
"I kind of felt some discomfort, noticed a little bump. Nothing major, and I was like who knows what it could be." As the bump continued to get bigger, Perrin went in to get an MRI which revealed her screw was backing out.
 
Her doctor wasn't too concerned about it for the immediate future, but after the delayed season, she could consider taking it out, a choice Perrin opted for, marking her third surgery in four years.
 
"I didn't want it; I didn't want something that was going to hinder me to still be there. So, we went ahead and right after the season, we took it out, and recovery started again. But this time it was shorter, and Perrin was ready to take on her senior season in the fall of 2021.
 
But wait, hold up. Didn't they just finish a season? Yes, yes, they did. No one had ever done this before…two seasons in one year; but the Bulldogs took full advantage of the opportunity, and for Perrin, it was a swan song four years in the making.
 
"Personally, I think it helped me grow," Perrin said of the quick turnaround. "It was tough not having a spring; that is really tough on a team not to be able to grow and build. But I think it kind of shot-putted us into the summer. Summer came and we were ready…Going into this year, we were all just super ready, super excited."
 
But Perrin's positive influence extends far beyond the soccer pitch.  Her strong faith led her to become involved with Samford's Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
 
"FCA has taken me to places I didn't know I could go, and to a growth I didn't know I needed." During her freshman year she wasn't too involved; sophomore year she was more present, but it hadn't yet taken the place it now holds in her life. "Junior year I had friends who were pulling me in. I had friends who were leaders and I saw them as people that I strive to be like…Come senior year, I wanted a bigger part in it."
 
You hear all the time about athletes using their platforms for this and that; high school, college and professionals. It was FCA that brought Perrin to a place of using her platform as a student-athlete, as a soccer player, to impact the lives of others.
 
"It taught me how to use my sport as a platform, but also how to recognize that playing my sport is also me glorifying God…Everything that has happened is not just me.  Yes, I put in the work, but I would not be here if it wasn't for God. It's me and Him working together."
 
Zoë Perrin has been through the gauntlet of challenging collegiate careers, and somehow, every time she has been knocked down, she finds the strength to get back up again and again. It takes a special kind of person, and a determined athlete, to do what Perrin has done over her four years at Samford, something the ever-humble Perrin says comes from the people here. "The people around me. I love my teammates. I have for so long. It has always been them. It's always been not me, but them."
 
Even after Perrin scored the game-winning goal that sent the Bulldogs to the SoCon Championship game, when people were excited for her and praising her late game heroics, she deferred praise to her teammates. "I wouldn't have been there if they hadn't worked hard for the 88 minutes they did. I wouldn't be there if they weren't keeping the ball out of the back of the net."
 
October 31, 2021. Again.
 
Bulldogs vs. Bears. It is always a battle, and that late October afternoon was just another chapter in the epic 2021 season for the Bulldogs. It was a slugfest with neither team giving an inch going into the waning moments. Perrin stepped on the field, playing all of 13 minutes, but in those 13 minutes, she not only saved a season, but she wrote an unforgettable ending to her comeback.
 
As fans listened to the game-winning call on ESPN+, Perrin recounted the moment in still disbelief.
 
Yount who just stumbled on the ball allowed a couple of defenders to get in place but Zoë Perrin with a chance to win it, and off the far post and in! Zoë Perrin finds the late goal and the Samford Bulldogs are in front with 1:42 remaining on the clock. That might have booked them a spot in the finals.   
 
"I don't even remember her getting the ball if I'm being honest, I don't remember how she got it. But I remember being wide, and there was just tons of space in front of me. I saw their back line, I knew she had tripped over the ball and I was like 'Ok, I just need to stay onside.'".
 
As Taylor Yount stood momentarily over the ball after a giveaway by the Bears, a slew of thoughts were racing through Perrin's head. "I'm staying onside, is she going to play it to me? I'm wide open, please play it to me kind of thing. And she plays it…"
 
* Cue suspenseful, building music *
 
"I take a touch and I am still wide open. And I just remember looking up…and the keeper had really given me a good portion of the goal, I just knew that I wasn't hitting at her and I had taken that shot before in practice."
 
Perrin took the shot, and it hit the inside edge of the far post and buckled into the back of the net. Pandemonium ensued, but it was Perrin that rallied the team to focus on the remaining seconds as the Bulldogs kept their unbeaten streak intact enroute to another record-breaking season.
 
In the years to come, Perrin wants to be an athletic trainer. "The relationships of an athletic trainer are greater than anything else. You are constantly with an athlete; you can have an impact on them."
 
Perrin said that she has had many athletic trainers have an impact on her life, and she wants to be the person who can be there and have a positive impact on others, but her selfless mentality and resilient nature has left a lasting impact on a storied program. The Samford women's soccer team is currently riding eight-straight Southern Conference Regular season titles and the Bulldogs have made six NCAA Tournament appearances under head coach Todd Yelton.
 
So what's the secret?
 
Perrin pondered for a moment before letting a sly smile creep on her face, "Just fighting for one another. Yes, day-in-day-out having good practices, good players; but none of that matters unless you can put it together."
 
Just this year, the Bulldogs completed a remarkable campaign that saw them go an unprecedented 9-0-0 in conference play, sweeping their way into the NCAA tournament downing the fourth-seeded Auburn Tigers 2-0 in the first round, Samford's first ever outright victory in the NCAA Tournament. It is a tradition of excellence that will live beyond Perrin's time in a Samford uniform, but it is resilient, humble athletes like Zoë Perrin, who have turned moments into a lasting soccer legacy in Homewood, Alabama.
 
Perrin has been through the thick of it during her soccer career, but there are athletes all over the world fighting through similar things. To them, Perrin simply says, "Keep going, keep going. There were times when I didn't' think I could, there were times even just this past summer where I was questioning if I could keep going. I texted old teammates and asked 'Why, why do I do it?'." Perrin even reached out to other athletes asking the same question, and got the same advice in return, just keep going, it's going to be worth it. "And it has been, it's been so worth it."
 
When Zoë Perrin was going through her recruiting process, she prayerfully looked for the place that God wanted her to go, when she walked onto Samford's campus she was looking for a place to grow as an athlete, as a student and in her faith. Now, four years later, Perrin has one piece of advice for the next generation of this soccer dynasty:
 
"Don't let go of your faith. If you let go of your faith everything else is going to fall apart…Faith first. If that isn't first then nothing else is going to fall into place."