BOSTON – Anyone watching the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League contest prior to the MLL All-Star Game on Thursday would be struck by the familiarity.

It looks like the college game, the high school game and the youth game girls grew up playing. But a closer look makes the changes to the sport evident. 

In the New England Command’s 12-11 win over the Philadelphia Fire, elements of the new style came into play. The running clock, shot clock and quick restarts made for a much faster-paced game than the average fan is used to.

It was also quicker for the players new to the pro level.

“I think it’s going to take more than just one season,” said Philadelphia coach Ricky Fried. “It’s going to take a little while to get comfortable with it. I think we’re understanding the rules.”

The WPLL formed in the second year of the United Women’s Lacrosse League, the first professional women’s lacrosse organization. While the WPLL is different in many ways, it adopted several aspects and ideas of its predecessor.

In the midst of its first season, the WPLL made its debut in New England on Thursday, and gave potential new fans of the Command an opportunity to see their local team, and a new rendition of the sport.

“I think the adjustment is the pace of the game,” said Command coach Amy Patton. “Even for the ones right out of college, and coming from the other league, we’re just trying to promote high level play. I think just about every game we’ve played has been a one-goal game, which for the fans, is really exciting."

Several locals, like Westwood, Massachusetts, native Ela Hazar, who holds the North Carolina all-time scoring record, had a chance to play in front of friends and family in New England for the first time.

“It’s really awesome,” she said. “It’s a really good feeling being a part of a new league and starting something. It’s so fun to play against people you played against in college and playing with them now. It’s a different vibe, but it’s fun.”

Hazar led the Command with three goals and stopped the Fire’s comeback late in the fourth quarter. The running clock at the end of the game even after a goal is an adjustment, because the lack of stoppage makes it difficult to regroup and score.

“The different rules is a big adjustment,” said Hazar. “It’s a lot faster paced. There’s a lot of specific rules. It’s different, but it’s fun to change it up from college.”

Philadelphia called a timeout with seven seconds left and the clock still running, also an adjustment from the college game.

“We have to get some continuity playing together,” said Fried. “The officials still need to learn the rules a little bit. It’s going to take a little while, but everyone is doing a good job putting a good product on the field.”

Like any startup league, or expansion squad in a more established league, a big hurdle to jump is teams getting used to playing with each other.

It’s no different in the WPLL, but having some background with players defecting from UWLX or playing in college has made it a bit easier.

The two-point line didn’t come into play on Thursday, but it’s an element adopted from the men’s professional style of the sport that isn’t part of the college game.

That precedent of changing small things in the sport, in some ways, allows the WPLL to experiment.

With Thursday’s game lasting about an hour and a half, it was a much quicker contest than the college game with whistles and clock stoppages throughout the contest. There were barely any restarts, and just three free position shots on Thursday.

The WPLL isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with the changes to the sport, but instead open the door for positive change in the way the game is played. The fast-paced action is, in many ways, easier to watch than the traditionally slower-style women’s lacrosse fans are used to.

While both versions of the game continue to perfect the way they are played, the WPLL hopes to be at the forefront of innovation.

“It’s exciting for them,” said Fried. “We don’t want to totally change the game and have little girls say, ‘This is what I saw, so I’m going to do this.’ It’s a little more physical, but we don’t want it to be stick-physical with them swinging. Maybe more with the body.”