But it also comes at what may one day be viewed as a pivotal moment for women’s professional soccer. Lloyd, Morgan and Dunn remain key figures on the United States national team, which is in a labor dispute with U.S. Soccer and in a period of roster transition under Coach Jill Ellis. But those three, along with Lloyd, also are leaving behind their N.W.S.L. teams — temporarily, in the cases of Lloyd and Morgan — on the eve of the league’s fifth season.

The league has played up its growth in recent weeks; it recently announced a television deal that will place one game each week on a national network, Lifetime, for the first time. But it remains a young league, one that is reliant on star power, especially American star power. The departures of players like Lloyd and Morgan, even for a few months, will challenge the league as much as they will the players themselves.

“It’s a two-way street,” the N.W.S.L.’s commissioner, Jeff Plush, said Tuesday, noting that the team had also imported players from overseas. “We’re part of the global football business — people come in, and others go out.

“Would we rather they be in the league? Absolutely. And we’ll be glad to have them back. But fans are excited for the season and the players that are here. And in their place, someone will get an opportunity to step up and shine.”

Lloyd is not unaware of her role in that continuum, or of the fact that by stepping out on her own, by choosing her own path and her own team, that she is disrupting it. She also said she understood that some fans might not understand.

“Fans get attached to teams and players, and I’m sure there are some people unhappy that I will be missing a portion of the season,” she said. “But at the end of the day, it’s my career. And I think it’s having a bigger impact on the women’s game by going than if I maybe stayed for these few months.”

Lloyd added: “This was purely just something that fit for me, and something that I’ve been kind of waiting for this opportunity to arise. And the timing was perfect, so I just put my head down and went for it.”