There was a different feeling on the field for the ASU women’s soccer team Wednesday night.

As practice came to an end, words of encouragement could still be heard echoing throughout the field, setting the tone for this week’s home opener.

Players and coaches alike remained on the field after the official end of practice to work on skills and perfect form.

The stadium lights that once seemed to recede into the background now showcased the intensity of this young Sun Devil team.

The players were quicker, the drills were a bit sharper and the fire inside of them was a bit hotter.

That’s because Friday night marks not only the home opener for the Sun Devils (1-1-1) against Texas Christian University, but a chance for the team to find its identity.

“It will help us to be at home, but the bottom line is that we need to find our game,” coach Kevin Boyd said. “They should be imprinting our style into every game we play.”

After last weekend’s winless road trip to California, the team lost freshman forward Courtney Tinnin to a season-ending torn ACL.

“Tinnin is a strong, smart soccer player,” Boyd said. “In the first game she improved upon areas we needed her to.

“In the second game she was even better. It’s unfortunate she got injured.”

Without Tinnin, ASU trudged on at practice with the results of last weekend fresh in its mind.

This week’s practices were unquestionably intense, but of course that was by design.

“They didn’t have a choice—they had to play intense,” Boyd said. “I felt like the [players] owed me 45 minutes of soccer, so Tuesday’s practice was hard.

“We did a lot of running. It was intense, it was fast and it was fatiguing.”

Visiting TCU compiled a 1-0-1 record last weekend, but has been unsuccessful against the Sun Devils in the past.

Last season, ASU snapped a three-match winning streak at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium, which leaves the team optimistic about Friday’s match.

“We didn’t get what we wanted out of the road trip to California,” sophomore midfielder Alexandra Elston said. “It’s hard coming back from a trip where you tie and lose, but now we know what we have to do for this weekend.

“Plus, it’s our home opener, so it’s exciting.”