With its best recruiting class ever, the Cyclone Soccer team took the field for the first time this year in a scrimmage against Truman State, beating the Bulldogs 5-1.

The first goal of the scrimmage came a little more than 11 minutes into the first of four 30-minute periods when no. 16 Erica Florez, a sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., and last year’s Big 12 Rookie of the Year, got ahold of the ball inside the box and fired a shot past Bulldog keeper Emily Huyck.

The Cyclones kept on the offensive pressure most of the day, recording 33 shots on net, and did an excellent job of sealing up the Bulldogs any time they managed to cross midfield.

Head Coach Cathy Klein seemed very excited after the performance and felt anxious about starting the season.

“The last 3 years we’ve been trying to build tradition and philosophy, and now it’s all starting to bear fruit,” Klein said.

This year’s roster will include nine freshmen, which makes up for a large chunk of the 23-person roster. Klein said melding the new talent with the veterans will be one of the biggest challenges this year, .

She was pleasantly surprised with the play of one of the freshman in particular.

“Katie Antongiovanni is an excellent player, and she showed that today,” Klein said. “We’re going to surprise some people with her. She’s as good as anybody in the country.”

Antongiovanni hails from Bakersfield, Calif., and is just one of 7 imports from a very aggressive off-season recruiting program that was ranked 41st by “Soccer Buzz” magazine.

According to Klein, the new talent pulled its own weight during the scrimmage.

“There was very little letdown from the second, third and fourth quarter with talent,” Klein said. “My general sense is that we’re in good shape. We’re better, deeper and more dynamic than we’ve ever been. We’re going to surprise some people this year.”

The team will get an early test this coming weekend when it begins a six-game home stretch this Friday at 4 p.m. against Baylor.

“I’m nervous about playing Baylor,” Klein said. “They won the conference last year. They’re as good as anybody, but hey, throw us to the sharks. We’re ready.

Sophomore Cyclone goalkeeper Lynley Hilligoss was also looking forward to the impending challenge of playing Baylor.

“They’re a good team, but I also think that we’ve been working hard together for the last two weeks, and if we all work together this week at practice, we might accomplish something big,” Hilligoss said.