SANDY — If the year were 1986 and the band were Europe, one might call this week “the final countdown” for Utah Royals FC.

Utah’s newest professional sports franchise — the second-ever pro women’s sports team in the state’s history — will open its inaugural season in the National Women’s Soccer League at 5:30 p.m. MDT Saturday at the Orlando Pride.

And there’s one goal on new coach Laura Harvey’s mind, amid the hustle of preseason and starting a new club that came to fruition in just over two weeks.

“I want three points,” Harvey said Wednesday afternoon before the team travels to Florida on Thursday morning. “That’s my aim. I think being away from home on the East Coast, it will be super hard. But coming away with any points, I would take. We just have to make sure it is really difficult for (the Pride).”

The game, which will air live on the KSL TV app, will be Utah’s first regular-season look at the newest member of the nine-team NWSL.

Headlined by national team stalwarts Becky Sauerbrunn and Kelley O’Hara (two players who will report to U.S. women’s national team camp with manager Jill Ellis prior to a pair of friendlies against Mexico), it will also be the first chance for fans to see hidden gems like midfielder Gunny Jonsdottir and the rest of the squad, 15 of whom played together last season with the now-defunct FC Kansas City.

“I think this Utah Royals FC group is going to b a hardworking, dynamic group who want to make the game difficult for the opposition to break down,” Harvey said. “We want to put on a show in the end. We want to keep the ball, play good soccer and hopefully score as many goals as we possibly can.”

Off the field, the Royals have already raised the level of the NWSL, according to league managing director Amanda Duffy.

"We do feel the league has emerged positioned for long-term stability and growth. We are extremely excited about the addition of (owner) Dell Loy Hansen and the Utah Royals, not just with their facilities, infrastructure and resources, but their passionate commitment to the league and to the women’s game as well," Duffy said via conference call Wednesday. "We continue to be engaged in a number of expansion discussions with multiple groups for 2019 and beyond, and we’re extremely optimistic about where those discussions are currently."

Orlando boasts some of the top individual talent in the league — like five-time FIFA women’s player of the year Marta. Former BYU striker Nadia Gomes is a practice-squad player with the Pride after being drafted in the 2018 NWSL college draft to Orlando (only five college players were signed by NWSL ahead of the 2018 season), and the Kansas City contingent will get a look at former teammate Sydney Leroux Dwyer’s new digs in Orlando, as well.

Still, the goal remains the same.

“I think Orlando is a really tough place to go for the first game, but it will be a really good evaluation of where we are right now, and what we need to keep working on,” Harvey said.

“I’ve said a lot of having the preseason the way it was is tough. Going into Orlando, it will be hard to think we are exactly where we want to be. But going there will give us a really good evaluation of where we are at.

“I’m excited to finally put something out on the field that is something we can be proud of.”

Harvey also hopes the product is something Utah can be proud to call its own.

“The community has really embraced us,” she said. “I remember going to pick up my Xfinity box, and I had three fans stop me in the middle of the store — which is unheard of for me.

“You know there is a lot of excitement around it. It’s our job now to put a product on the field that they can be proud of.”

Isom, Proctor remain with team

Two names that were absent when the Royals unveiled their final 20-player roster for the regular-season opener were NWSL college draft picks Taylor Campbell Isom from BYU and former Duke goalkeeper E.J. Proctor.

Neither one of them will be going very far, though — and could find themselves in a Royals jersey by the end of the season. Thanks to a new rule change by the league office, Utah will maintain the player rights to both draft picks through the 2018 season.

So while neither player is on the active roster, both will remain with the team as practice-squad players during the season. It's unlikely they will travel with the club, but in the event of an injury or national team contract, both Isom and Proctor could be signed to temporary contracts to fill out the club's roster.

"We have to make sure we invest in those people," Harvey said of Isom and Proctor. "It's a long season; 24 games is such a packed schedule, and it means I have no doubt that there will be some point in this season I will call upon them.”

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