search(["bobcat", "boomerang", "beer", "bat"], ["-bo"], ["b"]);

sub search {

   my ($data, $negative_criteria, $positive_criteria = @_; 
   my $temp_array;
   my $results;

   my $match_regex = join "|", @$positive_criteria;
   
   # remove trailing "-" which denotes negated criteria
   my $negative_regex = [map { s/^-//, $_ } @$negative_criteria];

   $negative_regex = join "|", @$negative_criteria;

   # filter through all matches to array
   foreach(@$data) {
      if ($_ =~ m/$match_regex/)
      {
         push @$temp_array, $_;
      }
   }

   # remove negative criteria and build new array
   foreach(@$temp_array) {
      if ($_ !~ m/$negative_regex/)
      {
         push @$results, $_;
      }
   }

   my $count = 0;
   foreach(@$results) {
      print "$count - $_\n";
      $count++;
   }

   return $results;

}

Output: 

0 - beer
1 - bat