ABILENE, Texas—Northwestern State saw its five-match unbeaten streak come to an end, as a second half goal was the difference in a 1-0 road loss to Abilene Christian on Thursday evening.

NSU (4-2-2) only suffered its second loss of the season, as it saw a few chances to score, but could not capitalize. The Wildcats (4-4) remained perfect at home.

"I thought we were poor tonight and deserved that result," head coach Ian Brophy said. "I didn't think we played up to the result we've been playing up to and had a really poor night."

In the 73^rd minute, Raelin Miller blasted a perfectly-placed shot from outside the box into the top left corner for the game's lone goal.

The Demons had their chances to put one in the back of the net but could not capitalize on their opportunities.

In the opening two minutes of the contest, a pass in the middle to Ravina Sandu, who had a clear look, but the defense came over at the last minute to cause Sandhu's shot to bounce wide right.
Sandhu also recorded a shot attempt in the 20^th minute, but it drilled the crossbar.

ACU struck back with a flurry, earning four corners and out-shooting NSU in the first half 7-4.

In the 13^th minute, the Wildcats posted a corner kick that pinballed around in the box. ACU attempted one shot off the foot of Katy Gregson, but ACU had a chance to score, and the Demons defense booted the ball out of harm's way after it pinballed around for about 10 seconds.

ACU applied pressure at the end of the half, but the Demons held the Wildcats off the scoreboard heading into halftime.

NSU started strong in the second half with three shots 17 minutes into the half, compared to zero for ACU. The rest of the way, NSU was held to one shot.

"I thought we played well in the first 10 minutes of each half," Brophy said. "I thought we created some good moments, and I thought we were poor on capitalizing on some really good soccer where we'd get into a good situation and then give the ball away when we shouldn't have. At the end of the day, we created a couple good moments, but we didn't create enough of them."

The Wildcats applied pressure the rest of the way, especially in the following 10 minutes, ultimately resulting in the game's lone goal.

NSU had one final golden chance, but Kendall Hemperley's shot was saved in the 88^th minute by Bella Medrano, which cemented the Wildcats victory.

Hemperley's four shot attempts are a career high and game high.

NSU goalkeeper Kennedy Rist came back after a two-game absence and made one save.

"I don't think she had a ton to do," Brophy said. "But she was brave off her line and made a couple big saves and I thought she did well coming back into the lineup after being out for a bit."
ACU had nine players record at least one shot attempt and no one with more two.

Now the Demons set their sights on Southland Conference play, which begins with a trip to UTRGV om Sept. 18 before coming home for the league home opener against reigning SLC champion Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 21.