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BELHAVEN, N.C. — It rained so much last week that getting onto the soccer field at Pungo Christian Academy was like playing water polo for the girls’ team. This week, snow, ice and sleet could prevent the squad from practicing outdoors.

The quest to win the Class 1A NC Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship might be a challenge in more ways than one for this year’s Raiders squad. Still, the three seniors on the squad know they have the skills and talent to do it again.

The 2024 Pungo Christian squad won the school’s first state soccer title, doing so in just the third year of the program. The team had a mix of youth, talent and experience to blaze a path to the state finals, where they beat Cresset Christian Academy of Durham, 5-0.

Now, the program has a bull’s eye on its back as there’s little doubt they’ll be able to sneak past the competition. That doesn’t bother seniors Julia Rouse, Maggie Ballance and Sayla Brown, who welcome the challenge this season will present.

“It was a really cool experience,” Rouse said. “I remember going into that day, the weather was a little crazy because it was very muggy and humid.

“But we’re used to that because we live on the swamp. So that wasn’t too much of a change. And then we really wanted to win. And we came out with a big lead in the end, and we just were able to pull it out.”

Ballance said the quest to win the state title again is one they’ve each embraced since winning last year and getting their championship rings. Despite the recent weather throwing some problems their way, she said they are set to hit the pitch and prove the doubters wrong.

“I think for me, it’s kind of, the want to defend it is like, it makes me try harder,” Ballance said. “Last year, obviously, a lot of work had to go into winning it. 

“There’s a lot of heart and a lot of drive on that team. And I think everybody was putting in a lot of effort. And I think that pushed me to be better this year, because I have something to say for my past. So there’s a little bit of a pride aspect there. I did it once, gotta prove that that wasn’t an accident.”

Brown said despite losing some key players from last year’s team, like Reagan Walker and Katie Baxter — who scored two first-half goals in the state title game — there’s still a lot of talent to go around. The seniors have been working with the younger players to share knowledge and experience that will hopefully carry over onto the field.

“We knew that we were good, and we knew that we could do it, even if people didn’t believe in us,” Brown said. “And we had a coach (Logan Van Essendelft) who believed in us, and we believed in each other.

“And I think that if we bring that mindset of working together in unity and being like, we’ve done it before, people didn’t believe in us then. And they may not think that we can do it now. And just because we have lost some core players, we can easily do it again.”

Van Essendelft said up to 18 girls will be on this year’s team. They will play some tough competition, both nonconference and in the Tarheel Independent Conference. Faith Christian out of Rocky Mount will be strong again, along with Lawrence Academy, Ridgecroft and Albemarle in the TIC.

Still, he believes his ladies are ready for the next step and the chance to defend their state title.

“Last year we started off losing to Rocky Mount Academy, who was a contender for the state title in 2A. And Epiphany School (of New Bern), which always has a sound soccer program,” Van Essendelft said. “And so losses don’t bother me early in the season if they can teach you something, and we can learn from those lessons.

“By no means am I saying that we’re gonna lose those first two games of the year, but it’s challenging. When you’re coming off a season, you’ve got weather issues right now, we might not even get on a soccer pitch until a week before the season starts.

“And so we gotta go, we gotta push ourselves. The girls know that I’ve pushed them. And so I’m gonna push them with the scheduling that we have.”