After two intense weeks of practicing against each other, the ISU women’s soccer team has a pretty simple attitude toward their season opener Friday.

They are excited.

“I can definitely feel it,” head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said. “The players are on high energy. They’re ready to go out there and take on Arizona.”

The Cyclones open their eighth season at 9 p.m. Friday as they face Pacific-10 Conference foe Arizona in the Arizona Invitational.

“It’s our first game out,” Hornbacher said. “[We] have been working very hard since the preseason.

“The players have been battling against each other for two weeks now, and they’re ready to battle against someone else.”

On Sunday, the team will face Weber State at 1 p.m. Weber State is a member of the Big Sky Conference.

The Arizona heat this weekend will be nothing new for the Cyclone players, after training in unseasonably warm weather in Ames the past two weeks.

“The players know what to do to take care of their bodies to prepare for competition. We’re going to get high temperatures,” Hornbacher said.

“I think our strength and conditioning staff and our training staff has done a phenomenal job of working to make sure that our girls are warmed up, ready to go and getting proper treatment.”

Junior forward Kelly Burke said the team is ready for competition this weekend.

“Our energy is so high right now,” Burke said. “To get a full game in; to have our first game of the season to go on the record, everyone is so excited for it.”

Last Wednesday, Iowa State traveled to Iowa City to play Iowa in an exhibition contest. The teams played a scoreless 45 minutes.

Burke said the team has momentum to build on from the exhibition contest.

“I really feel we dominated the game,” she said. “We were getting into our rhythm, I think, really well. It’s just a matter of time playing together against Arizona — we’re really going to click.”

Burke said the team is focusing on playing their own style against Arizona and Weber State.

“We’re just going to focus on our team playing the best game that we can play,” Burke said. “We’re not going to worry about thinking about our opponents. If we play our best, then we’re going to be successful.”

Iowa State is 2-4-1 in season openers. The wins came in 1996, under former coach Cathy Klein, and in 2002, Hornbacher’s first season.

Last season, the Cyclones defeated the Air Force Academy 3-0 when they opened at the Falcon Invitational in Colorado.

Dave Tobias is beginning his first year as head coach at Arizona. The Wildcats finished 6-12-1 overall last season, led by redshirt sophomore Kelly Nelson, who scored a team high 13 goals and had 27 points.

Weber State finished 5-12-1 overall last season with the help of now-graduated senior Kaleen Grant, who led the team with four goals.