DENVER – Each and every one of the 90 minutes in a soccer match is important, but intensity always seems to surge when single digits remain in the minutes column on the clock.

On Thursday evening at the Regency Athletic Complex, momentum briefly surged in the wrong direction to give No. 11 Western Washington a 1-0, season-opening win over MSU Denver to squash the Roadrunners' hopes of starting the 2019 campaign with a home victory over a ranked opponent.

When Vikings forward Karli White finally broke through what had been a strong defensive presence from MSU Denver, just 3 minutes and 46 seconds remained for the Roadrunners to send the match to overtime, where it previously seemed destined to go.

Though MSU Denver advanced the ball deep into the Vikings' end of the field as the seconds ticked down, no scoring chance developed and the Roadrunners suffered a heartbreaking loss to WWU for the second consecutive season. It was an 83^rd-minute goal that gave the Vikings a victory over MSU Denver in Bellingham, Wash., 362 days prior to Thursday's matchup.

"That's the difference in a game like this," MSU Denver coach Tracy Chao said following the contest. "They executed in a moment and we didn't."

MSU Denver took a deep breath after Western Washington failed to execute a crucial opportunity in the 75^th minute, as a penalty kick attempt from White sailed over the crossbar.

"It definitely gives you a little bit of a burst of energy," Chao said of the missed penalty kick. "At the end of the day, the burst of energy can only go so far if you can't put it in the back of the net."

While the offense sputtered at times, Chao praised her team's work on defense.

"I thought defensively, our back line and our midfield did fantastic," she said. "They crushed it. We asked them to work their butts off and they did. We made it really difficult for them to change their style of play."

The Roadrunners held the Vikings to just five shots on goal, four of which came from White, while senior goalkeeper Erica Torres made four saves on the night. The outcome of the match, however, came down to a moment.

"Good teams are going to find opportunities," Chao said. "I thought we were both good on the day, it's just that one (team) was just a little bit better."

A 1-0 loss on a late goal to the No. 11 team in the nation is nothing to hang your head about, but Chao and her team aren't satisfied.

"If we want to be one of the best, we've got to beat the best," she said.

The Roadrunners will return to the RAC on Saturday in search of their first 2019 victory as they face the Rattlers of St. Mary's (Texas) at 1 p.m. MDT. MSU Denver will then play host to a neutral-site matchup between Western Washington and St. Edward's (Texas) at 5 p.m. Saturday before the Roadrunners take on the latter in a home match at 3 p.m. Monday.