PEMBROKE — Not all championship runs are created equally. Some are more dominant, with an undefeated run through the schedule, while others come through the conquering of adversity, scratching and clawing until the season’s final game.

After conference titles won with perfect league records in each of the last two years, this season Lumberton had to overcome a tough loss to Cape Fear as it pursued its third straight United-8 Conference crown.

Wednesday at Purnell Swett, needing a win for the outright conference championship, the Pirates completed their mission with a 4-1 win over the Rams.

“Winning a conference championship is no easy feat, and to do it three years in a row just says a lot about our program,” Lumberton coach Kenny Simmons said. “It’s been a journey; it hasn’t been easy. After the loss to Cape Fear a couple of weeks back, we had to get refocused, and I stressed to the guys it’s all about the stretch run here, going through the second time through conference play, and trying to take it one game at a time.”

While most of the roster hasn’t been on the varsity team for all three of Lumberton’s consecutive conference titles, the current squad is definitely aware of what’s been accomplished in the program — and had the desire to add to it this fall.

“For me, personally, it’s just the legacy,” Lumberton’s Korbyn Walton said. “Being able to play in this conference for three years now and only lose one game, and being the champion for those three years is just — being able to keep the legacy going and having this group of boys, and the family that we create, and just being able to win.”

Lumberton (19-5, 13-1 United-8 Conference) lost four nonconference games — including two against fellow United-8 members in an early-season tournament in Fayetteville — before completing the first rotation through conference play unblemished. The second turn, though, began with a 1-0 overtime loss to Cape Fear on Sept. 27.

With little margin for error, the Pirates faced the challenge throughout the rest of conference play and, aided by a Cape Fear loss to Jack Britt last week, ended up one game ahead of the Colts in the league standings.

“We got the results we needed,” Simmons said. “Going back through the conference the second time, it’s been difficult, and I’ve seen great improvement with all the teams and they’ve all played a little bit better the second time around. So it hasn’t been easy, but I’m proud of the guys, they’ve made a super effort.”

It culminated with Wednesday’s match against Purnell Swett (13-9, 6-8 United-8), who the Pirates beat 3-1 on Sept. 25 and have now won 13 consecutive games against.

“We came in, got to dominate,” Walton said. “The first time we played them, we went down 1-0, we had a terrible start, and we came back and won that game. Just being able to come out here and control the game the whole night meant a lot, and to win the conference.”

The game remained scoreless for over 27 minutes at the start, with multiple missed opportunities for both teams, before Walton broke through with a goal, on an assist from Robinhio Tanis, to take a 1-0 lead. Walton scored again, assisted by Emilio Carrera, with 2:49 left in the first half.

“For both of them, basically I just made beautiful runs, and they just played beautiful balls, Robinhio and Emilio, so credit to them, and I just finished the job up,” Walton said.

“Korbyn’s been struggling a little bit, and I think he’d be the first to tell you, in some recent games with his finishing,” Simmons said. “Good to see him get his goals tonight, they were well-deserved, well-struck, well-taken goals.”

Tanis scored an unassisted goal with 1:11 left in the first half, giving Lumberton a 3-0 lead at intermission.

Lumberton’s three-goal stretch just before the half marked the second-straight game with such a stretch to create permanent separation in the match.

“For us, basically the whole season, we’ve had a slow start to most games, but we’ve started to play way better the last 10 minutes (of the first half) and continued that into the second half with all our momentum,” Walton said.

Tanis added the Pirates’ fourth goal with exactly 30 minutes to play.

“I owe everything to my teammates who passed me the ball,” Tanis said.

“Robinhio was one of a number of sparks off the bench for us tonight, and he came in and set up the first goal for Korbyn, and then had two later on himself,” Simmons said. “He was a spark off the bench, along with Luis Gomez, who came in midway through the first half and was a spark in the middle of the field. We changed a few guys up in some tactical positions and that was beneficial for us.”

Purnell Swett’s Kevin Locklear scored with 5:37 to play to avoid the shutout for the Rams.

“We played hard, they played hard, it was a very good game,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said. “We made a couple of defensive mistakes; we weren’t all on the same page, defensively on the back line, and that cost us. But overall, I was very proud of the boys, how hard they worked and how they kept fighting all the way through the second half.”

Simmons also cited the impact of Dakoda Hunt in the defensive backfield and Mark Ramirez and Carrera at midfield.

The game marked the final home game for Purnell Swett’s senior class; a senior-night ceremony was held before Monday’s match against Douglas Byrd.

“They’ve been a very good group over the last four years,” Strickland said. “They have the most wins for a single season, they have the most wins as a class, so they’ve accomplished a lot as a group.”

Both teams now move into the United-8 Conference tournament, which begins Monday.

Lumberton will seek to also defend its tournament title from last season and solidify the regular-season championship with a second title. The Pirates will host eighth-seeded Douglas Byrd in the first round Monday.

“We play for trophies, man, that’s what it’s all about,” Simmons said. “Down the line, there’s anticipation of maybe a fourth matchup with either Jack Britt or Cape Fear, which wouldn’t be an easy feat. We’re not looking past anybody else the first two rounds either, but there’s that potential to face one of those opponents in the finals, if we get to that point, and that could be a nice opportunity.”

Purnell Swett, the No. 5 seed, will face No. 4 South View in the first round Monday in a match to be played at Lumberton. The Rams likely need to win the conference tournament to earn a state playoff bid.

“Just one game at a time, first try to take care of South View,” Strickland said. “Hopefully we have a good game against South View, and then if that happens we move on, but otherwise I’m not thinking past that, and the boys shouldn’t be thinking past that too.”