In their final road test in the regular season, the Bear Men suffered a setback Tuesday as they push for a playoff spot, falling 3-1 at Meridian.

"We're still trying to get guys involved where they usually aren't used to because of our depth chart," Southwest head coach Zach Mills said. "It is tough when you go down and try to fight your way back. We did okay in the second half, we made them get on their heels and we had some nice shots, but we just couldn't find the back of the net more than once."
 
The Bears (7-3-4, 4-3-2 MACCC) found themselves behind in the 19^th minute as the Eagles jumped ahead 1-0.
 
Southwest appeared to be headed into the intermission trailing by one, but Meridian pushed ahead and scored a goal with :06 to go in the first half, putting the Bears down 2-0.
 
The struggles continued for the Bears early in the second half as Meridian made it a 3-0 game.
 
But not long afterward, Southwest got things going as Sergio Padin set up Rory Humphrey for a goal putting the Bears on the board.
 
Unfortunately, Southwest couldn't build off of that momentum before the final buzzer sounded.
 
The Bears return home for the first of two home matches to wrap regular season play. Southwest hosts Itawamba Friday at 7 p.m.