IMPERIAL, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff's season ended just as it started Tuesday.
The Mules suffered a 3-0 loss to host Seckman in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 semifinal after opening the year with a similar loss to the Jaguars.
Poplar Bluff ended the season 8-10 but loses just one senior in Lauren Rowland.
"We'll be back," Mules coach Rusty Crafton said. "We're fine."
Hannah Pfenisel had a goal and an assist while Rachel Ray's first goal of the season put the Jaguars ahead in the 27th minute. Sierra Stephens scored her second goal midway through the second half for a 2-0 lead.
Seckman (9-9) will face second-seeded Jackson (16-4), which won 5-0 over Northwest in the other semifinal, at 6 p.m. Thursday for the title.
The Mules finished the season with only six players that started every game and that included keeper Shelby Sievers.
Sophie Rowland did not dress after breaking her wrist in the final game of the regular season. The sophomore set a single-season team record for 21 assists and was third on the team in goals with five. The previous record for assists in a season was 11 by Allie Thomas in 2008.
The Mules were also without their second-leading scorer in junior Neida Grimaldo, who had six goals and five assists in 11 starts, and freshman defender Brylee Misner.
Shelbey Johnson, Poplar Bluff's leading scorer, played the final four games with a cast on her hand after breaking a bone. She landed on it twice Tuesday, missing the final 5 1/2 minutes of the first half.
Six underclassmen started Tuesday for the Mules.
"Limited key players out just kills us," Crafton said. "Got girls that are not very experienced coming in. A lot of girls have to step up in the offseason and we just have to come back and be ready."
The Mules were shutout for just the third time as Seckman keeper Lexi Haegele stopped Poplar Bluff again for her eighth shutout of the season. Nixa, the top seed in District 11, also shut out the Mules.
Poplar Bluff had an opportunity to strike first in the eighth minute when Johnson drew a penalty in the box. The junior had converted three penalty kicks for goals during the regular season but her shot clanged off the left post and Seckman was able to get to the ball first to clear.
"Towards the end of the season we wasn't getting any lucky breaks, that was another of them," Crafton said. "The PK really stung.
"We really needed that momentum going into the rest of the game. Just didn't happen for us today."
As a team, Poplar Bluff missed five penalty kicks this season.
"We've just got to stick them in the back of the net," Crafton said.
The Mules didn't get many scoring chances after that, earning zero corner kicks and were out-shot 24-7.
Ray scored the first goal on a break up the middle after the Mules couldn't clear and Seckman was able to counter.
"We made one key error in the back, we didn't clear the ball like we should have," Crafton said. "We should have just cleared the ball out to the side and been done with that play."
Seckman lost junior Ansley Alpin to a broken wrist on a collision at midfield just seconds after the goal.
The Jaguars were 7-1 when scoring during the regular season, losing in double-overtime for the lone setback.
Poplar Bluff had a chance to pull even in the 44th minute when Lauren Rowland's cross to the far post was intercepted by Haegele before Kiley Bess could reach it.
Jordynn Caldwell's free kick near midfield in the 58th minute was cleared and the Mules were caught offside trying to push back upfield.
Caldwell blocked a shot a minute later but the ball went to Pfenisel who crossed in front where Stephens headed the ball back past Sievers.
Pfenisel scored five minutes later on a shot from nearly 40 yards that sailed over a leaping Sievers and into the upper corner of the net.
Sievers had a season-high 18 saves, one more than in the first meeting with Seckman.
"I thought our defense played great," Crafton said. "I think they held the way they needed to hold. Shelby is always good in the back."
The Mules allowed 37 goals, nearly half as many as the previous season when they finished 11-13 and won a district title in Class 3.
Johnson set a single-season team record with 35 goals, 11 more than she scored last year as a sophomore to break a 2008 record by Chelsea Garner. Johnson had seven hat tricks, including a six-goal game against Liberty-Mountain View, and scored in all but four games.
It was the final game for Lauren Rowland, who scored her lone goal of the season in her final home game, a 3-0 win over Perryville. The senior also had five assists.
"She always brought the leadership," Crafton said. "She was always dependable. You can depend on her in the game -- she's going to hustle, she's just one of them kind of players that's always going to be there for you and never give up."