The ISU soccer team takes to its new home field for the first time this weekend as it plays host to TCU Friday and No. 16 West Virginia on Sunday.

The Cyclones (8-6, 0-3 Big 12) will get their first chance to play at the new Cyclone Sports Complex on Friday night against the Horned Frogs.

The new complex, located at the intersection of Mortensen Road and Welch Avenue in Ames, is a brand-new, $13 million facility. The state-of-the-art complex includes a training room, artificial playing surface and seating capacity for 1,500 people.

“Having a new facility is such a blessing,” said ISU junior Jessica Stewart. “Your touch is so much better because the surface is just so clean. It gives us a home field advantage, which is exciting, and it’s a beautiful facility. It’s just a good atmosphere to play.”

The Cyclones have spent some time practicing on the new field in the last week, which has helped motivate the team for this weekend’s games.

ISU coach Wendy Dillinger said the new facility has become somewhat of a recruiting tool, as well.

“We’ve had a number of recruits on campus and have been able to take them on a tour of the facility,” Dillinger said. “[They’re] just wide-eyed, very excited. It’s definitely a different look than what they see when they go to our current facilities.”

Iowa State faces TCU on Friday night for the second time in the program’s history and the first time as a Big 12 opponent. The Horned Frogs (5-6-1, 0-2 Big 12) are also winless in conference play thus far and are currently riding a three-game overall losing streak.

Despite TCU’s struggles, the Cyclones realize that no Big 12 opponent can be taken lightly.

“It’s conference, so they’re going to come out hard,” said sophomore Hayley Womack. “Everybody’s out to get wins in the conference, and I think it’s just going to be a battle the whole game.”

Unlike TCU, West Virginia has started its first Big 12 campaign in impressive fashion. The Mountaineers (7-3-3, 3-0 Big 12) are currently positioned atop the conference standings and have won their last five games by a combined score of 17-3.

“They’re new to the conference, so I think that’s exciting, just not really knowing what to expect,” Stewart said. “I think it gives us a cool opportunity to surprise them, and I think that it’s just exciting to see new teams and to get to play against new competition.”

This weekend’s games kick off at 7 p.m. Friday against TCU and at 1 p.m. Sunday against West Virginia.