Entering Tuesday's regular season finale, the Bears knew regardless of the outcome that they were postseason bound. Still though, they wanted to end the regular season on a positive note but knew that in order to do so, that they would have their work cut out for them against the league-leading Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs.
 
And despite putting forth a strong effort, they unfortunately couldn't keep pace, falling 3-1.
 
"They (Gulf Coast) are one of the best teams," Southwest head coach Zach Mills said. "And we are very excited about our performance, other than the loss. We had guys sitting out like our starting goalkeeper. He is not hurt but he is not 100%. We are getting ready for Saturday."
 
The Bears (7-5-4, 4-5-2 MACCC) found themselves down 1-0 about 15:00 in after the Bulldogs rallied to score the first point of the match. The deficit grew to 2-0 with only seconds left in the opening half following another Bulldogs goal.
 
Gulf Coast added its third goal less than 3:00 into the second half but it was answered by the Bears a few minutes later after Justin Ruiz sent a shot from about 35 yards out into the net cutting into the visitors' lead.
 
The Bears tried to feed off of that momentum but were unable to as Gulf Coast held off the Southwest attack.
 
Southwest awaits the final standings to determine positioning in the playoffs which begin this weekend.