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 women’s soccer loss at Abilene Christian on Thursday evening.

NSU (4-2-2) only suffered its second loss of the season. The Demons had 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 73rd 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 20th minute, but it drilled the crossbar.

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.”

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

Demons 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.”

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.