Though he had talented upperclassmen to steer the team the first couple seasons, the five freshmen — Tylar Brannon, Kelsey Duncan, Salem Woody, Jessica Lewandowski and Rachel Wharton (his daughter) — would be the core of the team for years to come. He knew them all well, too, having coached all of them since they were 12.

“Four years ago, I thought they had a chance to be a championship team,” Wharton said. “But it’s so difficult to put together a championship run.”

The Knights experienced that firsthand. They made it to the state final in 2006 and 2007 and lost both times.

In their final game together last month, the quintet, who were all team captains this season, delivered on their promise Wharton sensed three years earlier. On May 17, CCS beat Fayetteville Academy 2-1 on FA’s homefield to win the N.C. Independent Schools 2-A state championship.

“It’s definitely been a journey,” said Woody, a midfielder. “We started off as a new team. We were winning early and that was really exciting. Getting to the state championship the last three years in a row was exciting, too. But winning this year was a good way to finish off our senior year and it’s something you can bring with you the rest of your life.”

The win capped a success-filled four seasons for the five seniors.

They went a staggering 65-13-1 during their careers, winning four conference championships along the way while dropping only one league match. They qualified for the state playoffs all four years and had three championship game appearances.

This spring, the Knights went 17-1-1 and outscored their opponents 93-11. They started the season with six straight shutouts and finished the year with 11.

“Now that I hear the statistics, I’m like, ‘Wow, we were really good,’” said Rachel Wharton, a forward. “But I don’t think we realized it. We didn’t really know any of that.”

From the first day of practice that first season, the team has been guided by the principles of selflessness, hard work, resiliency and, most importantly, leadership. This season, more so than the previous three, the Knights were only going to go as far as the senior class led them.

“These girls have sacrificed, they’ve been selfless and they’ve served their teammates very, very well and that makes all the difference,” Rick Wharton said. “At the end of the day, you play well because of that.”

CCS breezed through the regular season this spring. Its only hiccups were a 1-0 loss to Durham Academy, the eventual NCISAA 3-A runner-up, and a 2-2 tie to St. Mary’s, a 3-A semifinalist.

Despite their proven dominance, they never got overconfident. The 6-0 thumping they took in the 1-A final to Covenant Day as sophomores and the 2-0 loss to the same team in the 2-A final as juniors was always in the back of their minds, a constant source of motivation.

With a first-round bye in the playoffs this spring, the Knights easily dispatched St. David’s 4-0 in the quarterfinals, then eliminated previously unbeaten Southlake Christian 2-1 in the semifinals. Despite the wins, there was a sense of unease. The Knights always focused on playing their best every match, and the result, in turn, would take care of itself. Though they’d made it to the finals for a third straight year, no one felt they’d played well in either playoff win.

“We were playing very selfishly, and that hurt us,” said Brannon, a midfielder. “But we’d still win. People were trying to take it themselves when it was not there. In the finals, we said we needed to stop playing like that and play as a team.”

When the team gathered in Cary before making the trip to Fayetteville for the final that Saturday morning, the unease was gone. When they took the field later that day, Rick Wharton said it was the most relaxed game he’s ever coached. He could see in his players’ eyes, they were not going to be denied.

“I felt, from the beginning of the game, that we were going to win,” said Lewandowski, a midfielder. “We were playing well and everything was connecting, and we scored, and I just knew we were going to win. I never doubted that we were going to win.”

Forward Christa White staked the Knights to an early 1-0 lead, and Woody put the game away with a goal in the 74th minute.

“As soon as I scored, there was like six minutes left, and I just started bawling,” Woody said. “I don’t cry easy. The fact that I scored, it was like, ‘This is it. There’s no way they’re going to score two goals in the last six minutes. We’ve won.’ … It was very emotional, but at the same time, very exciting.”

Fayetteville Academy managed to put one in in the final minute, but the title belonged to Cary Christian.

After twice watching the state champion celebrate at their expense, the Knights got to know what it felt like to be the champs. Those two losses only added to the sense of accomplishment this year.

“It was amazing,” said Duncan, a midfielder. “I think that last goal didn’t really affect us. We knew there was a minute left and we were about to be state champions. It was really fulfilling after coming in second twice. It was just like, ‘Wow, we really did it.’ It was a great way to end it all.”

Their days at Cary Christian are over, and so are most of their days of organized soccer. Only Woody will go on to play in college (at Mars Hill). The success of their four seasons no doubt made their collective experience even more enjoyable. But that’s not what made it meaningful or memorable.

“That’s one thing I’m going to miss the most about here, the team dynamic,” Brannon said. “I’ve played club my whole life, but it was nothing compared to this. The team unity and how we played together was special.”

Just as Rick Wharton thought it would be.