A barbecue and a battle.

That’s what the ISU women’s soccer team and fans will encounter Sunday as the Cyclones host the Conference USA DePaul Blue Demons in the home opener at the ISU Soccer Complex. Game time is 1 p.m.

Before the game, the first 350 fans in attendance will be treated to a free barbecue.

“We’re trying to invite an environment that’s family-friendly on a Sunday afternoon,” ISU head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said. “We’re hoping to see a lot people supporting our team. We’re only home twice this month, so we’re looking forward to playing at home.”

Hornbacher, whose team captured the Arizona Invitational title last Sunday, said DePaul won’t be taking the Cyclones lightly.

“They have a good team. They’re going to be out to get us,” Hornbacher said.

“Our girls are going to be wanting to come [out in] the home opener with a bang and really play well. I expect a 90-minute battle … very competitive, high energy, very physical game.”

DePaul is coming off its first victory of the season, a 4-0 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay last weekend. The Blue Demons, who were 10-8-1 overall and 3-6-1 in conference play last season, are led by Julianne Sitch.

Sitch, a sophomore midfielder/forward, was named to the pre-season Conference USA team. She scored two goals in the Blue Demons’ win on Sunday. DePaul out-shot Wisconsin-Green Bay 26-16.

The Cyclones, who are 3-3-1 overall in home openers, are led by sophomore forward Amy Flores and senior defender Arlene Samuel. Flores has four points on the season, Samuel has three.

Flores said every game on the Cyclones’ schedule will be a battle.

“We have got to play strong against any team since it doesn’t matter who we play,” she said. “We’ve got to play DePaul tough and have no letdowns. Being 2-0 is a good start, and we need to keep building on that.”

Flores also said the team has been having good practices in preparation for Sunday’s contest.

“We’re working on finishing a lot in practice,” Flores said. “We’re getting to know everyone as a team in practice. We need to keep moving forward.”

Redshirt freshman Kate Kirwan expects the Cyclones to come out hard against the Blue Demons. Kirwan said the team is expecting a great crowd on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re going to come out and play our style of soccer. We’ve been building since the preseason,” Kirwan said.

“We’re expecting a great atmosphere from the crowd and [we’ll] show them our style of play. We have a lot of confidence right now and we want to keep the winning streak going.”

With starting with two wins, Hornbacher said the team needs to focus on where they want to be later.

“Last year, we opened up and we won three games in a row,” Hornbacher said.

“This year, let’s make it more than three and let’s not stop there. I really feel that we need to win one game at a time. And if the players do that, they’ll be just fine.”