LUMBERTON — After 98 minutes of soccer, a goal finally pierced through to the back of the net, giving Cape Fear a 1-0 win over Lumberton Wednesday.

With it, a 2 1/2 year run of perfection in the United-8 Conference came to an end for the Pirates.

“All in all it was a great high-school soccer match, minus the goals being scored; everybody wants to see an offensive explosion from one or both teams, but it was a defensive struggle,” Lumberton coach Kenny Simmons said. “Not a lot of chances created by either team, a few here and there; a back-and-forth match.”

Cape Fear ended Lumberton’s 32-game conference winning streak dating back to the formation of the United-8 in 2021; the Pirates lost their final Sandhills Athletic Conference game in the spring of 2021, their most recent conference loss before Wednesday.

“It’s a huge accomplishment. I’ve mentioned this before, we’ve been the benchmark for 2 1/2 years, almost three years, in the league, and everybody’s gunning for us,” Simmons said.

Both teams played well defensively, with scoring opportunities limited in a scoreless tie through 80 minutes of regulation and nearly all of both overtimes.

Cape Fear (9-4, 6-1 United-8) took the lead with 2:18 remaining in the second overtime session when Maxwell Risenmay scored what became the game-winner.

“In the end, they got the bounce they needed, and the guy was able to finish one of their opportunities,” Simmons said. “All night we had been handling balls played into our final third with ease, but the spin on the ball might’ve caught one of our guys off guards a little bit, and it landed at that guy’s feet and he was able to finish his chance.”

Some of the key missed opportunities through regulation included a Colts would-be goal negated by offsides and a free kick that missed high in the first half. The Pirates missed a penalty kick early in the second half.

Lumberton (11-5, 6-1 United-8) played a man down for the last 21 minutes of regulation and all of the overtime sessions after a player’s second yellow card resulted in disqualification.

“It didn’t help the cause; we ended up having to play a man down,” Simmons said. “Tremendous credit to my guys, they left it all out there — and the Cape Fear guys did too. It was a well-played game by two very good teams.”

Lumberton’s best chance in overtime came with seven minutes left, when a running shot missed left. Cape Fear scored five minutes later.

While Lumberton’s streak ended, the Pirates will continue their quest for a third straight conference championship. Cape Fear pulled even with Lumberton in the conference standings at 6-1, with Jack Britt lurking at 6-2 with games against both co-leaders remaining on the schedule.

“This was a pivotal game tonight; this opens the door for Jack Britt and it gets Cape Fear back even with us in the loss column, so down the stretch I see it being a three-team race,” Simmons said. “It sets a huge game up for us Monday night at Jack Britt. … Not a lot that separates the three teams and it’s going to be very interesting down the final stretches of the conference season.”

Before the Pirates face Jack Britt on Monday, they’ll meet St. Pauls in the Robeson Cup championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Purnell Swett. Lumberton will be seeking its fourth straight Robeson Cup championship.