There are three phases in the dynastic cycle: the rise, the peak, and the fall. Buried somewhere in phase two is a subset, when a leader—having already achieved glory—must reassert and reclaim their prominence against a rising tide of naysayers and hungry challengers. Part of this struggle is when the thrill of ascent is gradually supplanted by the corrosive effects of fatigue, distraction, or just plain satisfaction. As the saying goes, it's harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb.

The North Carolina Courage emphatically remained at their peak last Sunday, defeating the Chicago Red Stars 4-0 to win their second consecutive NWSL Championship, and the team's third in four years going back to the final year of the Western New York Flash. Couple that with three straight NWSL Shields and a host of other team goals accomplished in a salary-cap and college draft league, and you have a run of success unparalleled in the admittedly uneven history of American women's pro soccer.

When the Flash won the 2016 NWSL Championship, they were seen as interlopers (perhaps even by themselves), a bunch of gatecrashers who caught a wave momentum to upset the plot and snag a title over the league's more worthy elite. Even after Steve Malik bought the Flash and they became the North Carolina Courage the next year and won the NWSL Shield, the prevailing belief was that when the playoffs rolled around, the insurgents would be suppressed and order would be restored. But a funny thing happened in the Portland Thorns' win over the Courage in the 2017 league championship. The star-studded Thorns felt compelled to call upon rough-and-tumble tactics to stifle the Courage's relentless attack and grind out a one-goal win.

The revelation was bracing: if even Portland believed this was the only way to beat these upstarts, perhaps Carolina was more than a flash in the pan. Portland left with the trophy, but the Courage left with the appreciation withheld a year earlier.

The Courage's coronation as league standard bearers last year felt preordained. The biggest surprise was the completeness of their dominance, from rewriting the league record book to winning an international tournament in the process. They beat Portland four times, including the league championship on the Thorns's home ground. The rise was over; this was the advent of the Courage era.

The obstacles facing the 2019 edition of the Courage were different. Life was moving on: one player was contemplating retirement, some were casting their eye toward starting families, and some were coping with personal issues that often linger in the background of professional lives. Success had produced seven national team players who would miss a sizable chunk of the season at the World Cup. Several of those who remained in North Carolina were left to grapple with the reality of not earning a trip to France. Then, once the US national team players returned in late July, would the compulsion for league success seem small in comparison to the fame and notoriety of a World Cup win? This sort of adversity afflicts many teams, but not many who are also trying to remain atop the pinnacle of their sport.

All the while, the rest of the NWSL was sick of losing. The 2018 Courage were a nice story, they said, but it was time to make way for somebody, anybody else. Good-natured banter often segued into unending vitriol on social media. The Courage kept their heads down and kept grinding, for the most part, but they heard the chatter. They mostly internalized it and channeled it into their performances. Sometimes their angst would flare up, like on Twitter after a controversial late-season win over the Houston Dash. Away from game day, players became more guarded.

When the NWSL Best XI teams were announced last week, several deserving Courage players were completely left off, including Lynn Williams, the second-leading scorer in the league, and Debinha, the artful Brazilian who enjoyed a breakout year for club and country—both were also league MVP finalists. There was much justified hand-wringing about the voting process, but the Courage saw it as another referendum on how they're viewed by everyone beyond their fan base. Debinha's sarcastic shrug after scoring a fourth-minute goal in Sunday's league championship final was her way of saying, in the infamous words of Sam Kerr at the World Cup this summer, "Suck on that one."

Paul Riley didn't win NWSL Coach of the Year this year, as he did in 2018; in fairness, Riley said Vlatko Andonovski or Ritchie Burke would get his vote. But 2019 was the far more complex campaign. #LaytheTracks was the year's mantra and Riley was the conductor, doing everything he could to keep the Courage train from derailing or stopping short of its destination. When some players returned to Carolina with a bout of World Cup malaise, Riley administered tough love, mostly in private and occasionally in public. When the Courage put in a wretched first half at Sky Blue in early September, his halftime diatribe was the most pointed since their Western New York days. Four days later, they thumped Portland 6-0 on their way to six straight victories and a third consecutive Shield.

Whenever Riley calls the Courage "underdogs," it's a label that patently belies the team's achievements and exasperates outside observers (including Chicago manager Rory Dames last weekend). While Riley can reel off reasons to justify his assertion, his primary purpose is to motivate his squad. However, he's also keenly aware that his pronouncements make him a lightning rod for any potential ire during the playoffs instead his players. Indeed, Riley's tweet assailing last week's Best XI selections served the same design.

But more than anything, Riley has cultivated a team environment built to withstand both external and internal headwinds. Contrary to the perception of many, the Courage culture doesn't revolve around a group-think mentality in which individuality is sacrificed to manufacture team-first automatons. The reality is more complex. Instead, Riley has somehow turned the embrace of each player's differences into a unifying force. Jaelene Hinkle, one of the best defenders in the league, is also the fulcrum of an ongoing maelstrom that would fracture many locker rooms. That hasn't happened with the Courage.

"On the field and off the field, there's a lot of potential for us to grow, and I think that's why each year we've gotten better, as well, because there's always this bond of how do we better ourselves as players and individuals," Hinkle said last week. "It's always been how do we come together as a unit, both as a team and as a family. I would consider every person on this team like my sister; I would do anything for them … That starts with Paul, making it adamant that this is our family for the next however months we're in this together, and we're going to be there for each other through everything.

"That's what makes our team so special. We don't have to agree on x, y, and z to know that I'm going to support her and she's going to support me. I don't question that for a second. As often as people would like to think that there's this divider, clearly there can't be if we're three years running in the finals and winning Shields."

Of all the Courage superlatives, one that leaps off the stat sheet is over six playoff games played since the Cary club formed in 2017, North Carolina has scored a total of 14 goals while conceding only two. That would be an impressive run during the regular season, but it's almost unfathomable against the league's annual elite. The four 2015 Flash draftees—Williams, Hinkle, Sam Mewis, Abby Dahlkemper—remain the core of the team, but each season ushers in new success stories. Last year welcomed the arrival of Crystal Dunn and Merritt Mathias. This year saw the emergence of Debinha, from talented contributor to budding superstar for both North Carolina and Brazil. Stephanie Labbé, Canada's starting goalkeeper, found a home with the Courage after several well-chronicled years of frustration with her club career. Kristen Hamilton is hardly a new name in Courage country, but her nine goals and season-long accolades culminated with her first cap with the U.S. national team. And of course there's Heather O'Reilly, who began her pro swan song buried on the bench and ended it as an indispensable starter, refusing to fade into the sunset until it was fully her decision.

The offseason could be promising for the NWSL, which rode a post-World Cup surge to record attendances and new corporate sponsors. Expansion has already been announced for 2021 and appears likely for 2020. That means an expansion draft, which could cause the Courage to lose one or more of its mainstays. And, there's a high likelihood that players will miss time for the Olympics. All that would be a source of angst for fans and players, but Riley and the Courage brass have already begun planning for next year. If you listen close, they almost sound like they welcome the challenge, eager for another opportunity to prove themselves.

The Courage play fearless soccer, but their one nagging fear is that if they ever make any misstep or fall short of expectations, critics will instantly consign them back to being the pretenders from 2016. That's the fall this dynasty is working to prevent. Uneasy is the head that wears the crown, but the Courage wear it very well.