Poplar Bluff converted one last chance to break a tie in overtime.
With 20 seconds in overtime, the Mules set up for a corner that was all but the final play of the game. Tied at one, Austin Tinsley leapt and got a clean head on the ball and put it in the back of the net to lift the Mules to a 2-1 win over Union on Tuesday at Mules Stadium.
"I thought we had great chances to score, in the first half we just couldn't capitalize and we got down," Poplar Bluff coach Rusty Crafton said.
"Last year, we probably would have stuck our head between our legs and just gave up. This year, we are battling back. We didn't ever give up."
Union (0-2) struck first with a goal with 18 minutes left in the second half when Isaiah Hoelscher took a quick shot from 20 yards that went inside the far post.
"I think we just didn't step in time and our mids didn't get back. It was a quick shot and we just didn't step in time," Crafton said. "I thought our defense, that was one of our weak points last year, and I would say we've changed 90 percent and it is working out."
Four minutes later, Poplar Bluff's Kai Gilmore had an open from 20 yards out after a rebound, but his shot sailed high. Soon after, Tinsley collided with the Union keeper while going for a loose ball and the physicality started to pick up.
Inside 10 minutes, Nik Rowland chased down a through ball on the left sideline and dribbled toward the keeper, who cut down space before Rowland passed across the goal to Alex Ketcherside, but he wasn't able to get a good foot on it as the defense swarmed and cleared the ball.
Rowland soon ran after long pass, settled it with his knee and outran the defense before poking it past the keeper for tie the game with 4 minutes remaining.
Poplar Bluff had several near chances in the first half of overtime, but never put a shot on goal while Union had two that Poplar Bluff goalie Justin Moses was able to easily save. Moses also had a pair of diving saves in regulation to keep the Mules alive.
In the second overtime, Rowland took an early try from 25 yards out, but didn't get a lot of power on the ball as it rolled to the keeper.
A moment later, Wyatt Rowland raced up the right side and drilled a shot that Union's keeper was able to deflect. Nik Rowland added one more chance at the 1 minute mark where he and the keeper both chased after a through ball. Nik Rowland got a foot on it, but the shot went through the football uprights.
After the goal kick, Poplar Bluff raced back down the field and drew one last corner to set up Tinsley.
Play was back and forth early and neither team managed a shot on goal until Nick Rowland had a try 23 minutes into the game from outside the box.
As play wound down, the Mules seemed to get better and better chances as more and more through balls found their mark.
Gage Rowland hit the crossbar, and with a minute left in the half, Nik Rowland tapped a shot past the keeper but the Union defense was able to chase it down and kick it away before it crossed the goalline.
"We have great balls to the middle, great through balls, then I tried to tell them to back it off and play more to the feet because they were winning a lot of balls in the air, so we tried to switch it up a little bit, and it did help," Crafton said. "It opened back up the middle."
Poplar Bluff had five offside calls against it in the first half and one in the second.