LUMBERTON — The majority of Tuesday’s United-8 Conference tournament semifinal match played out on the end of the field the Purnell Swett soccer team was defending, as Lumberton controlled the possession throughout the game.

But the Rams defended that goal well, keeping the Pirates off the scoreboard for over 65 minutes to start the match.

Finally, though, a goal pierced through the chilly night, then another, and Lumberton earned a 2-0 win in the United-8 Conference tournament semifinal, advancing to Wednesday’s championship match.

“I thought we played well; I thought our ball movement and our possession and our passing game was on,” Lumberton coach Kenny Simmons said. “We probably had 80% of the possession, I would guess. But a ton of credit to Swett; they were very organized defensively, it was very difficult to break them down.”

“It was a hard game, a tight game actually,” Lumberton midfielder Brandon Rodriguez said. “We knew they were going to come with their A-game, but we did what we had to do.”

Pirates junior Korbyn Walton provided the goal to end the scoreless stretch, scoring from a tight angle to the right of the goal off the assist of Emilio Carerra with 14:09 to go.

“I got the ball wide; me and Emilio did a couple of 1-2 (passes), and whenever he got the ball back inside I cut in and be played me a beautiful through ball, and I scored,” Walton said. “We just had a whole lot of chances, but we couldn’t ever finish them. I got my one chance down there and I put it in.”

“The first goal was crucial, very important,” Simmons said. “We talked about hoping to get that goal at an earlier stage in the second half … but it was tough and they defended well. Sometimes that final pass, to create that really good goal-scoring chance in the final third of the field, was lacking a majority of the night. We stayed with it and we were patient and kept the pressure on them, and finally some things opened up for us.”

Top-seeded Lumberton (21-5) prevented No. 5 Purnell Swett (14-10) from any good goal-scoring opportunities once the Pirates had the lead. Then with 2:51 remaining, Rodriguez — who had missed a penalty kick with 18 minutes left when the game was still tied — finished off a Joshua Badillo pass to double the Pirates’ advantage.

“I tried to put it up top, but I hit it too hard (on the penalty kick),” Rodriguez said. “But I had a chance to redeem myself and I did.”

“He had a nice pass played into him and kind of cut one move and took it to the right of the defender and hit a nice shot,” Simmons said.

Purnell Swett lost its 14th straight game in the series against Lumberton; the Rams, who are currently 39th in the state’s RPI ranking for the 4A East Region, are not expected to earn a state playoff berth.

“They’re a good, hard-driven team, Lumberton, and they just keep pushing at you and pushing at you, trying to wear you down, and I think they finally did wear us down a little bit there at the end,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said. “But I’m still proud of my boys for how hard they fought all evening. They gave it their best, and it just didn’t come up the way we wanted to, but I’m still proud of how they fought all evening.”

The Rams’ star of the night in the loss was goalkeeper Branlon Brooks, who kept the game scoreless for so long by making numerous stops on Lumberton’s attacks, totaling 10 saves on the evening.

“He’s a good young keeper, and we’re glad to have him for three more years,” Strickland said. “All we’re asking of him is to grow vocally now and be strong and opinionated to his defense, and don’t worry about if they’re upperclassmen — it’s your house, protect your house, and I think he’s going to eventually get there.”

Lumberton advanced to the tournament championship match, to be played at the Kenneth W. Simmons Soccer Facility at 6 p.m. Wednesday, where the Pirates will face Cape Fear. The second-seeded Colts beat No. 3 Jack Britt 3-2 in overtime in Tuesday’s other semifinal match, with Cape Fear overcoming a 2-0 deficit to force overtime, then scoring the game winner when the kickoff to start overtime was kicked all the way into the net.

“Cape Fear is going to be a tough game,” Simmons said. “It’ll be the fourth time we’ve played them; they’ve actually got a 2-1 edge over us. They beat us in conference play and ended our conference winning streak; we beat them at their place earlier in the year 5-2. It’s going to be a heck of a game and I’m looking forward to it.”

Cape Fear beat Lumberton 1-0 on Aug. 19 in a nonconference match as part of the Battle for the Bell tournament in Fayetteville; the Pirates won 5-2 on Sept. 5 at Cape Fear before the Colts won 1-0 in an overtime match in Lumberton on Sept. 27.

After winning their third-straight regular-season conference championship, the Pirates seek their second consecutive conference-tournament title.