Over and over last year, the goal clearly was stated: be competitive.

Orlando Pride coach Tom Sermanni said it, as did many of the club’s executives and top players.

Last year was tough. They knew it would be, an inaugural National Women’s Soccer League season during an Olympic year. Top players came and went, and the team never really felt settled.

This year is different.

The Pride are different.

And the goals are different.

“Win a championship,” forward Jasmyne Spencer said. “Goal.”

“It’s very simple, just win, have a winning mentality, strive for success,” defender Ali Krieger said. “That is why we're all here.”

“To win,” defender Alana Kennedy said. “That’s the goal. That’s what we've been talking about and that’s what the team is here for. The recruitment that we’ve had and the players that have stayed here, [the roster] has been made to win games.”

Kennedy and Krieger were among those new players recruited, both members of their respective national teams who round out a formidable defensive unit, while Spencer is one of last year’s returning standouts, along with leading scorer Kristen Edmonds, U.S. national team goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris and Australian star defender Steph Catley, among others.

Last season, Sermanni and the technical staff wanted to honor commitments made to inaugural players and give them all enough time to prove themselves. But once 2016 concluded with the Pride finishing second to last in the league, it was time to make whatever changes necessary.

At times, that meant heavy scrutiny from fans — protesting Canadian midfielder Kaylyn Kyle’s departure and the decision to waive cancer survivor Sarah Hagen. Other times it meant bringing in a slew of young forwards to support the team as a star explored other options.

Many worried when U.S. women’s national team forward Alex Morgan announced she was signing a six-month contract to play in France. Could the team succeed without her? Would she return?

Those questions subsided when the club announced a new player earlier this month.

The signing

Orlando Pride training at Orlando City Stadium on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) (Stephen M. Dowell) (Stephen M. Dowell)

Marta.

Similar to the way Kaká immediately placed Orlando City on the radar of soccer fans around the world and the way Morgan provided an instant fan base and buzz around the Pride, Marta made heads turn toward Orlando, wide-eyed with expectations exceeding those prior to her signing.

A five-time FIFA World Player of the year will do that. The 31-year-old gifted attacking player is expected to arrive in Orlando on Thursday.

When head coach Tom Sermanni was asked last week if she would play in the home opener at 4 p.m. Saturday against the Washington Spirit, he said, “She’ll be here for the home opener and she’ll be playing. It’s as simple as that.”

For the club, Marta, 31, is a boost for ticket and jersey sales and a world-class player for fans to come see. For her future teammates, she’s an inspiration.

“I was in disbelief,” said 23-year-old midfielder Dani Weatherholt. “I never thought it would be possible for me to play on the same field as Marta, let alone with her. She's set the standard of what women can do.”

Spencer, 26, said growing up she wanted to be either Marta or Mia Hamm.

“If you could ever want to be two people as a female soccer player, that was them,” Spencer said.”

Even Krieger — who is a year older than Marta, was the Pride’s major offseason signing prior to Marta, has 315,000 Twitter followers and is a World Cup Champion with a nearly 10-year career playing for the U.S. women’s national team — was in awe of the signing.

“I think I ran around in circles, jumping up and down,” Krieger said of when she found out. “I played with Marta before in Sweden, for about four to five months, and I gained such a new perspective of her as a player and a person. She’s such a team player…she's just running her butt off all around the field, making her teammates look good and wanting to win.

“That’s what we need. We need a winning mentality and we're just adding to it. I cannot wait to put on the same jersey as her and walk out there.”

Putting it together

And so the Pride kick off 2017 with a core of familiar faces, a couple high-profile additions and young players eager to contribute.

Orlando looks to be a high-pressure side that has the ability to force turnovers.

The Pride came out in a 4-3-3 formation for the season opener, a 2-0 loss to the Portland Thorns on Saturday.

The result wasn’t what they hoped for, but the errors — a rushed attack, questionable decision-making and an inability to finish the many chances generated — are ones that can be helped by more time together and the added experience of forwards Marta and Morgan.

“We’re very excited by the new season,” Sermanni said. “Going into season two, we’re far more settled and in a far better position than we were at this time last year, when we were kind of chasing around wondering what team we were going to put on the field. If you look at the team this season, we’ve got more depth than we had last year.

“We’re a much more mobile team, a much more dynamic team and generally overall a better footballing side than last year. We’ve improved the quality and the competition in the squad ... and with that hopefully we’ll be able to play a more expansive brand of soccer.

“Hope we win a few more games.”

They’re more savvy on the business side as well, according to Orlando City SC CEO Alex Leitão, who said the club has a better understanding of the women’s league and commitment from fans going into the second year.

He also praised the NWSL’s new partnership with A+E Networks to broadcast games on Lifetime, which gives the club a higher level of comfort with the league’s future.

“I think we are where we thought we could be,” Leitão said. “Everything is pretty good so far.”

New home

Ashlyn Harris stood in front of more than 25,500 people who packed the new Orlando City Stadium March 18 for the Lions’ second Major League Soccer game of the year.

“Let’s prove that this city, Orlando, is the best soccer city in this nation,” Harris yelled to the cheering crowd after telling them to come out and fill the stadium again for the Pride home opener.

Just as it has for the men’s team, the downtown stadium will provide the Pride with a home, a sense of identity, a better game-day atmosphere and higher-quality playing conditions with a grass turf.