OAKLAND CITY, Ind. -- The SBU Bearcats began their season with a serious statement, defeating the Oakland City University Mighty Oaks, 11-0.

SBU's Rhiane Mitchell scored 5 goals and logged an assist in the opening-day win. Teammate Nicola Cousins had 5 assists and hit the back of the onion bag once.

"It was a great tune-up match," said SBU's head coach, Benjamin Wade. "I was beginning to wonder at the beginning of the match. They held us scoreless in the first 20 minutes, and I thought it might be one of those times when it's just hard to hit the back of the net."

"Rhiana and Nicola were just huge for us. Last year, for example, we had to depend on too few players. But this year, the diversity of the team is the strength of the team. We played some very, very good soccer today. It's nice to see us together, and our chemistry starting to work."

SBU opens the 2008 season with a 1-0 mark, and heads to Rolla on September 3 for a match with Missouri S&T.