The Lady Toppers’ season came to a halt in the Sun Belt Conference championship Saturday as they lost to Denver 2-0.

Western set records for wins in a season (15), a conference record for shutouts (14), and made the conference championship for the first time in its career.

Head coach Jason Neidell sees all of this as a positive note for the future.

“Hopefully this all means that the tide is turning in the conference,” he said.

Denver scored both of its goals in the second half to win its third straight SBC tournament.

“We fought valiantly in the championship game and felt the game could have gone either way,” Neidell said.

Denver also had an edge in its depth as well, Neidell said. The team was able to play 22 women in the tournament and rested some of its key players as it went ahead 4-0 during its game Thursday.

Western advanced to its first-ever championship game by beating host North Texas 1-0 Thursday.

Senior forward Kristin Cocchiarella scored the lone goal in the 23rd minute of the game.

Neidell called the win awesome for the team, as North Texas gave the team its first loss of the year and knocked it out of the tournament last year.

“The win helped us recognize that we are one of the perennial teams in the conference,” he said. “Western has arrived on the scene.”

Sophomore forward Amanda Buechel, freshman

goalkeeper Libby Stout and Cocchiarella all made the SBC all-tournament team.

The future does look bright for Neidell’s squad. Western will only lose three players and already has 10 verbal commitments for the 2009 recruiting class. 2007 co-leading scorer sophomore Mallory Outerbridge will return as a sophomore after her stint for the Canada under-20 national team.

“We will be a much larger and deeper squad,” he said. “It will be much more competitive for playing time.

Neidell was even willing to make an early preseason prediction for next season.

“I think we may be the team to be next year,” he said.

Reach Mike Stunson at sports@chherald.com.