After playing nearly 89 minutes in a scoreless deadlock, Western was the first to flinch in yesterday’s 1-0 loss to Florida Atlantic in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Despite what coach Jason Neidell called a dominating second-half performance, a last-minute Florida Atlantic goal by junior forward Alicia Tirelli off a corner kick was the difference.

“We played a great game,” Neidell said. “We just came out on the short end.”

Western ended the season with a record of 11-8, going 7-4 in Sun Belt play. The Owls improved to 11-7-2 overall and will play top-seeded Denver at 4 p.m. today in second round action.

Florida Atlantic defeated Western 2-1 on Sept. 24.

The Owls outshot Western 11-8, the narrowest margin of shots in any Lady Topper loss this season.

On paper, the match appeared to be a tale of two halves, with momentum swinging from the Owls to the Lady Toppers after halftime.

Western was outshot 6-2 in the first 45 minutes, though neither team’s goalkeeper made more than one save.

Freshman forward Morgan Thomas said the second period saw more effort from Western.

“It was back and forth a lot in the first half,” she said. “We really stepped it up in the second half. We had our opportunities. They just didn’t go in.”

The second half saw more offense from Western and more efficient shooting from the Owls.

The Lady Toppers took six shots to Florida Atlantic’s five in the second period of play, though Western managed to put only two of them on target. The opposing attackers put three on goal.

Thomas said the coach gave them a simple game plan: Win the 50-50s and do it for your seniors.

“They were a really big part of the team,” she said. “A bunch of us felt like we didn’t pull through for them.”

Reach Ed Lukins at sports@wkuherald.com.