PEMBROKE — Eventually, someone else will win the Robeson Cup. But each fall the Lumberton soccer team ensures that the rest of Robeson County will have to wait another year.

The Pirates defeated St. Pauls 3-2 Saturday, claiming the boys Cup title for the fourth time — all four times the tournament has been contested.

It came after a thrilling match against the Bulldogs, with four of the five goals coming in the final 11 minutes after a defensive struggle for the majority of the game.

“I thought this would be the toughest of the four to win. Hats off to St. Pauls — they’ve got a tremendously talented team, and they’re well-coached, Brent does a good job. We knew we had our work cut out for us tonight.”

Lumberton won the inaugural Robeson Cup in 2019; the tournament was not held in 2020 due to COVID-19, but the Pirates have repeated as champs in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

“It means a lot, just being able to keep the legacy going, and hopefully being able to defend it for the next year and the next couple years, it just means a lot to keep this program at the top of the county,” said Lumberton’s Korbyn Walton, who scored four goals in the tournament including the Pirates’ third goal in the championship match.

Lumberton (12-5) led 1-0 before Angel Robles scored with 11 minutes remaining to create some separation for the Pirates.

“Angel and his pace, he causes everybody problems, and he was a thorn in their side all night,” Simmons said. “He gets to that end line, man, he can be real tricky, and from some tight angles he can put some away for you, and he did on that occasion.”

“Everybody started getting opportunities towards the end, one because we started throwing players forward,” St. Pauls coach Brent Martin said. “We moved our center backs out to get them further forward. … We have to take risks when we’re down 1-0. You can’t defend a 1-0 loss, you have to go for it, but our squad depth is so much less than Lumberton’s that it shows when we start to make those changes.”

Robles was named the tournament MVP after he also had one goal and one assist in the Pirates’ 6-1 semifinal win over Red Springs on Sept. 16.

“We needed that second goal, to be honest, because we were playing a little bit rough,” Robles said. “But that second goal, it brung out a lot of energy for us to keep going.”

St. Pauls (7-4) cut into the lead when Kevin Lopez converted on a penalty kick with 8:48 remaining.

“We kept getting knocked back, it was 2-1, 3-1, but we kept fighting,” St. Pauls coach Brent Martin said. “We are a group of fighters — we’re Bulldogs.”

Lumberton, though, regained the two-goal lead just 23 seconds later when Korbyn Walton scored off the assist of Emilio Carrera on the other end of the field.

“They got the call to go their way, the guy drilled the PK, at that point … it’s still game, game on,” Simmons said. “But then Korbyn scores in 23 seconds after that on a great goal, on a great pass … so that gave us a little cushion.”

“It was just, right off the kickoff, I cut down the middle, I saw the center back and they had a big ol’ gap in between them,” Walton said. “And I yelled for Emilio, and he played me that ball, and I came back and just hit it — and we started celebrating.”

St. Pauls kept battling, with the Bulldogs scoring the game’s final goal with five seconds left as Lopez earned his second of the game.

“I can appreciate guys bonding forward from midfield and scoring goals with five seconds left, still trying,” Martin said. “It’s who we are, it’s what I teach, it’s what I preach.”

The game was scoreless through the first half; most of the limited scoring chances that came belonged to the Pirates, including a pair of free kicks, with one of them bouncing off the crossbar of the goal.

The Pirates broke through with 30:22 remaining when Carrera scored on a spectacular bicycle-kick goal.

“I just kept trying and trying, but then finally I had to get it in,” Carrera said. “It felt good, I had a really good touch and I had good space, so I took it and I got the kick and the goal.”

“It was a nice goal. That was huge,” Simmons said. “Emilio deserved that goal; he had worked hard in the midfield for us all night, and he’s done it for us all season.”

In addition to the MVP Robles, the Pirates’ Walton, Carrera, Dakoda Hunt and Isaac Juarez were named to the All-Tournament team. Lopez, Gamaliel Silvan Cordova and Justin Lopez earned All-Tournament selections for St. Pauls.

After Lumberton defeated each of the county’s other three soccer programs in its first three Robeson Cup titles, St. Pauls became the first to face the Pirates in multiple tournament finals; the Bulldogs beat Purnell Swett 3-0 in the semifinals.

“I think it’s a testament to my players; I’m proud of them, and I told them to hold their head high, there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Martin said. “It’s always us here, it’s always us and Lumberton; we belong here, and we keep getting closer and closer, and I’m proud of the way we thought to the end. … You’re talking about David vs. Golath, and we’re one goal short of a biblical story.”

Lumberton plays Monday at Jack Britt in a key United-8 Conference matchup, while St. Pauls will play at West Bladen as it resumes Southeastern Athletic Conference play.

Purnell Swett takes third-place match in overtime

More than 80 minutes was necessary to decide third place in the Robeson Cup’s consolation match between Purnell Swett and Red Springs, with the Rams earning a 4-2 overtime win.

Red Springs (2-7-1) led the match 2-1 before Jace Jacobs scored an equalizer with six minutes remaining in regulation for Purnell Swett (10-5).

“The character we showed to fight back after going down 2-1, that was what I was most proud of,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said. “They just said, hey, we’re going to get back into it, we’re going to fight. That was a great thing is them showing character to get back into it and fight and get the victory.”

Kevin Locklear scored with seven minutes left in the first of two overtime sessions to give Purnell Swett a 3-2 lead. Brayden Jacobs scored with 2:30 left in the second overtime, off an assist from Marcos Ibarra, his third of the game, to make it a 4-2 game.

“We just didn’t finish at the end,” Red Springs coach Andrew Hughes said. “We made some simple mistakes; we could’ve closed it out and we let them come back and tie it up, and then we just were wore down towards the end.”

Kevin Locklear also scored the Rams’ first goal, which gave them a 1-0 lead.

Red Springs took its 2-1 lead with goals by Brian Ruiz Villagomez and Marco Tellez; Anthony Hernandez and Carlos Garcia Hernandez had assists.

The Rams’ Jacobs and Locklear and the Red Devils’ Garcia Hernandez earned All-Tournament honors.

Purnell Swett plays Monday at Cape Fear; Red Springs hosts Midway on Wednesday.