For the first time in the history of the Western Kentucky University soccer program, the Lady Toppers have advanced to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship final after defeating host North Texas 1-0 on Thursday at the Mean Green Soccer Complex in Denton, Texas.

The victory pushes WKU to 15-1-4 overall - the first time a Lady Topper soccer team has recorded 15 wins in a season. WKU will face Denver on Saturday in the finals, with an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament at stake. The match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. CST.

Until Thursday, the Lady Toppers were 0-5 in semifinal action - with three of the five losses coming at the hands of North Texas.

“It is a really proud moment for our program,” said head coach Jason Neidell. “All the hard work that the players have put in since 2001 have come to the front tonight.”

In the 23rd minute, Alaina Atcher made a strong tackle to pass the ball to Amanda Buechel. Buechel found a streaking Kristin Cocchiarella down the middle of the field to put WKU up 1-0.

Cocchiarella buried the ball in the lower left corner of the net for her team-leading ninth goal of the season. The match-winner is her fourth of the year and a school-record 11th.

Both teams ended the first half with seven shots. North Texas led in shots on goal 4-3.

North Texas had chances to tie throughout the second half. UNT’s best opportunity came in the final seconds of the match, when four UNT players huddled in the box but couldn’t get a shot past the WKU’s back four of Rachel Friedman, Katie Walker, Morgan Thomas and Hayley Marsh.

“This was one of our best efforts of the season on both sides of the ball. I thought we had to counterattack in the second half and we were close to being successful with a shot coming off the crossbar, but our back four and our goalkeeper were tremendous tonight,” Neidell said. “I also thought that Alaina, our holding midfielder, played well. The reason we scored was because she won a tackle at midfield. It is great to have a fifth-year senior and a captain perform the way she did tonight.”

WKU freshman goalkeeper Libby Stout came up big once again for WKU. The freshman stopped 10 of 18 shots and collected her 14th shutout of the year - a new SBC single-season record. The goalkeeper has yet to suffer a loss in the net for WKU.

WKU’s Bowen honored

WKU volleyball junior Brittany Bowen was honored Thursday by being named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Third Team.

The Ada, Mich., native, who holds a 3.86 grade-point average in chemistry, is the ninth Lady Topper in school history to receive the honor and the first since Caron Blotch in 2005.

Bowen is currently second for the Lady Toppers with 238 kills. She also has posted 75 total blocks, 17 digs, three assists and holds an overall .335 hitting percentage.

The two-time Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List honoree has posted double-digit kills in 10 matches this season and finished with a season-high 19 kills against Arizona State.

The Lady Toppers will battle host Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m. today.