August 26, 2021 (Mena, Arkansas) - Finally getting to play their first match of the season, the Bucks opened up with Region 2 foe Eastern Oklahoma State College. 

in the first half, the game went back and forth for both teams. The Bucks had multiple opportunities and made it count in the 40th minute. After an Eastern yellow card, Dawson Sawyer (Brechin, Scotland) took the set piece and found the head of Barkan Kilic (Braunschweig, Germany) for the first goal of the match. The Bucks would take their 1-0 lead into halftime.

The second half was much like the first. Both teams made runs of their own and had periods of possessing the ball. In the final 10 minutes of the match, the Bucks keeper came off line and left an open goal, but Nacho Villameriel Cuenca (Valladolid, Spain) made the defensive save to prevent a Eastern goal. The Mountaineers would add a goal to tie the match in the 87th minute that would send the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, the Bucks missed early opportunities and then Eastern controlled the rest of the match. The match would go into a second overtime. The Bucks would control the period, but the match would end in a 1-1 draw.

On the day, keeper Edward Garcia (De Queen, AR) would finish with 4 saves. 

#GOBUCKS