ST. PAULS — Lumberton forward Hoslerson Joseph was a game-time decision for Saturday’s Robeson Cup championship match with an ankle injury suffered earlier in the week.

Joseph didn’t start, but checked in with 17 minutes left in the first half. When he did, everyone watching was quickly aware of his presence.

Joseph scored a hat trick, helping the Pirates pull away from Red Springs for a 9-0 win to claim tournament championship for the third straight time, remaining the only school to lift the trophy.

“We were a little hesitant about making that decision, kind of looking at the big picture,” Lumberton coach Kenny Simmons said. “But he’s a goal-scorer, man, what else can you say? That’s his thing, and he had an immediate impact on the game as soon as he came in.”

Joseph was named tournament MVP for the second straight year.

“I give the credit to my team, because they helped me out and without them I wouldn’t be scoring goals. And also my coach, he pushed me so hard this season,” Joseph said. “It was really hurting, but I had to man up, I had to step up for my team when they needed me.”

Lumberton (10-2) already led 2-0 when Joseph came into Saturday’s match, which was played at St. Pauls; his three goals then came over the next 24 minutes. Joseph then scored with 5:36 to go in the half off an assist by Angel Robles. The Pirates led 3-0 at halftime.

Joseph then scored twice in the first seven minutes of the second half. The first, on a shot from 25 yards off the assist of Luis Izeta, came with 37:19 on the clock, then the second, a runner from 12 yards assisted by Oswaldo Flores, was at the 33:08 mark, giving the Pirates a 5-0 advantage.

“I give the credit to my midfielders,” Joseph said. “They know how I play so they looked for me on top.”

Lumberton’s first two goals came seven minutes apart in the first half. Alexis Lopez scored with 27:38 on the clock, assisted by Izeta; Izeta then scored when his shot bounced off the goalkeeper’s hands.

“It was a good boost; scoring two goals at the beginning, it made the team better,” said Izeta, who has played on all three of Lumberton’s Robeson Cup championship teams. “Everybody’s confidence went up, and we kept scoring.”

After Joseph’s goals, the Pirates added goals from Cayden Hammonds and Izeta, assisted by Lopez and Brandon Rodriguez, to extend the lead to 7-0 with 27:44 remaining. Dakoda Hunt and Jair Santos scored the Pirates’ final two goals, with Santos’ score assisted by Rodriguez, for the lead to reach nine goals, the threshold to end the game early by rule.

“They just were a well-deserving team,” Red Springs coach William Judd said. “They have a lot of talent over there, and we kind of where short-handed tonight. I feel like they deserved it a little more than we did tonight.”

Red Springs (2-4) had limited scoring opportunities against the Lumberton back line; one, just seconds after Lumberton’s first goal, was saved by Santos, who didn’t allow a goal as the Pirates goalkeeper in two tournament games and scored his goal after coming out to a field position late in the game.

“That’s good to even have those chances against a good team like this,” Judd said. “I try to tell my boys, when you look at teams in our county, this is who everyone wants to be like. They’ve got the commitment that I wish we could have. … Hopefully we take this as a learning lesson, keep that experience and run with it. Hopefully in the future we can get back to this game and compete a little bit better in the championship.”

“I think the game changed on two defensive plays we had in the first half,” Simmons said. “We were controlling the game and we were creating the majority of the chances, but they had two really good looks in the first half that could’ve changed the game a little bit. Oswaldo had a foot save on one of them, and Jair had a pretty good save on one.”

Red Springs also had a would-be goal negated by an offsides call less than two minutes into the second half.

Lumberton won the inaugural Robeson Cup in 2019; the tournament was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Pirates won when the tournament resumed last fall. In three Robeson Cup championships, they have now beaten each of Robeson County’s other soccer programs once each.

“One of our goals we set early in the year was to win the Robeson Cup, and that will continue to be one of our goals,” Simmons said. “We like to consider ourselves as the top program in the county, and we wanted to come out and defend that. Three in a row is a nice accomplishment, and it’s nice to have played all three teams in the finals, and we’re 3-for-3, so we’re going to try to keep that going.”

Joseph was joined on the All-Tournament team by Izeta, Santos, Mark Ramirez and Flores for the Pirates and Marco Tellez, Edilberto Urbano and David Flores for the Red Devils.

St. Pauls beats Purnell Swett in third-place game

In the tournament’s third-place game, held earlier Saturday at St. Pauls, the hosts earned a 2-0 victory in a defensive struggle against Purnell Swett.

Both teams were kept off the scoreboard until St. Pauls’ Adrian Vasquez scored on a 22-yard shot with 17 minutes remaining. St. Pauls (7-4-2) scored its second goal on an own goal by Purnell Swett with four minutes left.

While the Bulldogs won, coach Brent Martin wasn’t satisfied with his team’s performance.

“You have to have the highest-level effort, the highest-level intensity every time you play, and tonight we played down to the level of our opponent, and it made it difficult for us,” Martin said. “It should not be that way — it shouldn’t be that close. … We dominated the attacking portion of the game and it shouldn’t be that difficult, but here we are, depending on one goal and an an own goal.”

Purnell Swett (2-9-2) struggled to finish when the Rams had scoring opportunities in Saturday’s game.

“That’s been our issue all year is finishing,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said. “I’ve tried different people up there, different forwards, two forwards working together, two midfielders. Basically, though, I like what we’ve come up with tonight, that setup, because we’re strong in the back, strong in the midfield and the finishing is just the last thing to come now. You’ve got to work your way from the back forward.”

Vasquez and Justin Lopez represented St. Pauls on the All-Tournament team, while Purnell Swett’s Devon Conner was also a selection.