he rain poured down midway through the second half, adding to what was already a sloppy afternoon for Western.

Down not even one minute into the match, the Lady Toppers again let their frustrations get the best of them in a 2-1 loss at Florida International on Sunday.

The Golden Panthers (4-6, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) jumped on top from the get go, scoring just 39 seconds into the match. FIU added another goal 20 minutes later to take a 2-0 lead.

“We were sluggish early on and we tried to find our rhythm,” senior midfielder Leslie Anderson said. “I was surprised by the miscommunication on FIU’s first goal, but I didn’t think we played that bad. We made adjustments at half-time and played much better in the second half.”

Anderson was more optimistic and talkative following the match than Western coach Jason Neidell who declined to comment.

Perhaps he was steamed at the number of fouls and yellow cards picked up. In a disappointing start to SBC play, Western committed 17 of the match’s 31 fouls including yellow cards to forwards Betsy Duncan and Jenna Silverberg.

Perhaps he was upset at the lack of offensive firepower from the Lady Toppers, who were outshot 11-8. Western’s only output was a rather meaningless goal by freshman forward Ceci Shell with four seconds remaining in the contest.

Maybe Neidell was displeased at the communication coming from his squad. After having two weeks off to rest and prepare for SBC play, this surely wasn’t what he expected from his troops.

“We really showed a lack of intensity and we really didn’t work together very well,” senior forward Crystal Chapon said. “We were excited at the beginning, but we just fell apart after FIU’s first goal and we got a little out of control.”

The Lady Toppers seemed to follow their usual trend of getting down on themselves after falling behind. In previous games, Western has played sluggishly and that continued Sunday.

“We just don’t have confidence when we get behind,” senior midfielder Andrea Doogs said. “It just seems like there’s no sense of urgency. We just put our heads down and there really wasn’t any life left in us.”

If the Lady Toppers (5-5, 0-1 SBC) are to go anywhere in the SBC, they’ll need to get their act together and soon. In 10 days, Western embarks on what might be its toughest road trip all season when it takes on conference powers Denver and North Texas.

But Western’s first chance at redemption comes at 7 p.m. Friday, when it hosts Arkansas State before taking on Arkansas-Little Rock at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Reach Jason Stamm at sports@wkuherald.com.