CONWAY, Ark. – Northwestern State soccer had a chance to hand regular season champion Central Arkansas its first conference loss on Friday, but the Bears closed the door on the Lady Demons in a 2-0 loss.

UCA (15-3-1, 10-0-1 Southland Conference) protected its undefeated SLC record by scoring goals in the 55^th and 83^rd minutes.

UCA is only the second league opponent to score multiple goals against junior goalkeeper Alex Latham and the NSU (10-7-1, 7-3-1 SLC) defense.

"We had a good opportunity to make quite a mark, and we fell short," said NSU coach George Van Linder. "We learned some things about ourselves, and we plan to be a better team at the conference tournament."

The Bears' Alex Moore finished a breakaway goal off a Kristen Ricks' assist in the 55^th minute for a 1-0 lead.

UCA added a late second goal when Ashley Smith finished a Moore cross into the penalty box.

NSU created a few offensive opportunities, but the Lady Demons couldn't sustain an offensive attack against a stubborn UCA defense.

UCA outshot NSU 20-10, including 11-3 in shots on goal.

Latham made nine saves in the loss.

UCA keeper Anna Hughes earned the win with two saves while second-half keeper Lauren Mercuri made one save.

Friday's contest was NSU's final regular season game, and the Lady Demons finished with double-digit wins for the first time since 2009 and seven SLC wins for the first time since 2004.

NSU will be the No. 3 seed in the SLC Tournament and will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas. The SLC Tournament trip is the Lady Demons' first since 2008.