At long last, First Flight’s rule as the king of Northeastern Coastal Conference boys soccer came to a halt last fall when Northeastern captured its first championship banner in the sport.

It will be tough for the Eagles to repeat, however, as only three starters return.

Currituck may be the local team best equipped to keep First Flight from regaining the seat at the top it had occupied for six seasons. The Knights have eight regulars back.

In the Four Rivers, Camden is rebuilding after making a nice run in the 1A playoffs as the conference’s No. 2 seed.

Here’s a look at area teams:

CURRITUCK

All-Area keeper Tyler Lumsden, a four-year starter who had five shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.50 last fall, heads a list of eight returning starters, most on defense.

That’s going to be important since Currituck, which went 10-7-3 and 5-4-1, doesn’t appear to have a replacement for graduated big gun Logan Rash, who poured in 18 goals.

“Most of our defense has been together for three years,” Knights coach Mark Chappell said. “We also have a pretty strong midfield.”

Seniors Cody Aarestad, Garrett Speer and Clint Squires are the vets back on defense and senior Greg Farr and juniors Dalton Barcroft, Kevin Cosnahan and Faustin Pierre are back to patrol the midfield.

Junior defender Caleb Bishop, senior forward Ricky Hill and Lorenz Zeller will likely fill out the lineup.

Hill could provide a big lift if he is sufficiently recovered from ACL repair.

The Knights, off to a 2-1 start this season, hope to avoid the injury bug. Last year Chappell wasn’t able to field a healthy lineup until late in the season.

NORTHEASTERN

A roster full of seniors carried the Eagles to a 12-3 record overall and an 8-2 mark in the conference.

It’s not going to be the same this time around.

“After losing 13 players from last year’s team, this will definitely be a rebuilding season,” Northeastern coach Waylon Joyner said. “And half of this year’s team will be new to the program.”

Seniors Joel Abbitt, Cameron Horn and Cole Shumway are the lone returning starters.

Matthew Hulse and Carl Raisor are seniors, Forrest Dunstan is the only junior on the team and everyone else is a freshman or a sophomore.

But Joyner figures to use ‘em all.

“We’re fast and possess the ball well,” he said. “I’m expecting contributions from all 20 players.”

Completing the Northeastern roster are sophomores Chandler Castillo, Cade Lowry,

Garner Robertson, Paul Stephen and Jackson Wysor and freshmen Tommy Albanese, Anthony Chappell, Joel Garcia, Jalen Gore, James Jenkins, Cameron Pharr, Ben Svavatsson and Sam VandeSande.

The Eagles are off to an 0-1-1 start, but the tie came against Four Rivers champ Manteo, which had already beaten Currituck 5-0.

EDENTON

The Aces are coming off a satisfying 12-9-2 campaign, one highlighted by a postseason appearance and the program’s first-ever victory over First Flight. The loss to graduation of keeper Grainger Coughtrey is significant, but first-year coach John Smoot believes sophomore Mark Montgomery can provide a solid last line of defense.

Senior backs Josh Laverty and Adam Lewis, sophomores Jimmy Boehling, Austin Wilder and Allen Tynch and juniors Rob Bunch, Alex Perry and Stephen Chesson form a solid, mostly experienced core. Senior Tanner Brusko and sophomore T.J. Leary project as potent strikers.

Leary had eight goals and five assists last season and Bunch notched 10 assists.

“We’re actually fairly balanced, which is unusual,” Smoot said. “Most of the time a team usually stands out on defense or has a couple of strikers that stick out. So far we seem to be doing well on both sides.”

PASQUOTANK

Mark Wice is doing his best to keep the program afloat after agreeing to serve as the coach when Pasquotank was unable to secure one to replace Kevin Deaver.

Wice, the coach of the school’s girls program, doesn’t have a lot to work with. Only three players return from the 2010 team that was 4-8-2 and 2-6-2: sophomore forward Drew Krebs, senior defender John Kisonis and senior goalie Tyler Whedbee.

“Keeper is definitely our strength,” Wice said. “We have too little experience for most of the players.”

Completing the Pasquotank lineup are junior defender Ryan Foster, sophomore defender Alex Elliott, senior defender Jesse Miller, junior midfielders Issac Langlois and Devin Trulin, senior midfielder Michael Little, and freshmen forwards Zack Whedbee and Dalen Spence.

CAMDEN

For the second year in a row, the Bruins are in rebuilding mode. But coach Chuck Leslie hopes this year’s squad rebuilds as well as the 2010 Camden team. Those Bruins kept getting better as the season progressed and wound up going 14-8-2 (11-3 in the Four Rivers) and won two 1A state tournament games.

While Camden lost 15 players from a year ago, five starters are back and they are good ones: Senior midfielders Garrett Dunn and Adam Lannon, junior midfielder Brenden Rogen, senior defender Cory Aydlett and sophomore forward Bronson Watts.

Also, junior midfielder Cody Hogge has some playing experience and senior Forest Byers will provide a boost in the midfield after opting to play travel ball as a junior.

Watts is the top returning scorer. He had eight goals and six assists as a freshman.

“We are a well-balanced team among the grades, but we lost a ton of leadership,” Leslie said. “I’m looking for this year’s seniors to step up and lead the team.

“We have great potential and I have confidence the guys will find their stride by conference time.”

Camden, which is 1-2 thusfar, is playing its usual heavy dose of 2A and 3A schools in its non-conference schedule.

“The 2A/3A schools show us what we need to work on to be successful in the conference and the state playoffs,” Leslie said.

PERQUIMANS

The Pirates won’t be showing their feminine side as often this year. Last fall’s 0-12 team was nearly half female and found it difficult to match up physically with its opponents. This season, coach Corrie Kemp has 12 boys and just three girls on the roster.

Only four of the returnees were starters a year ago, however: Senior midfielder Reed Midgett and sophomores Zack Byrd (keeper/forward), Sam Phthisic (defense) and Savannah Duncan (midfield).

“We are a very young team and most of the players haven’t played against competition the caliber of our opponents,” Kemp said. “Our strength is teamwork. These players work hard for each other and are constantly bringing each other up.

“The key to success will be our mentality, have the strength of mind to dig deep and never give up.”

The Pirates don’t actually play their first game until Sept. 12. Kemp expects the lineup to be rounded out by senior forward Conrad Polk, junior forward Jimmie Jordan, sophomore midfielders Garrick Carlson and Taylor Hunter, freshmen defenders Katelyn Stokely and Randy Surgeon and ninth-grade forwards Tray Duncan and Charlie Owens.