RED SPRINGS — The biggest stage in Robeson County girls high school soccer is set for the next two Saturdays as the Robeson Cup is held to determine a county champion.

Saturday’s semifinal games will be at St. Pauls, with Lumberton facing Red Springs at noon and St. Pauls taking on Purnell Swett at 2 p.m. The final round will be March 23 at Red Springs, with the third-place game at noon and the championship game at 2 p.m.

These local soccer squads are already a few games into their respective seasons, with each showing growth in their own way through the opening weeks of the campaign.

Entering the tournament, here is a look at how each team, listed alphabetically, has fared thus far and an outlook on not only the Robeson Cup, but the rest of the season.

Lumberton

The Lumberton Pirates are young — Ethan Freeman called it the youngest team in his tenure as head coach — but are off to a promising start (2-1-1 overall entering play Friday, 0-1 United-8 Conference).

Even with that winning record, Freeman points to the team’s lone loss thus far as proof of its growth, a 2-0 defeat against defending United-8 champion Cape Fear, holding reigning conference Player of the Year Jayda Angel at bay for the final 70 minutes after two early goals.

“Every game we’ve gotten better and better, and I’ve been really pleased with the progress we’ve done,” Freeman said. “(Angel) scored two goals on us early in the first 10 minutes, but we adjusted quickly afterwards and came out with a little bit different tactics, and the second half did pretty well and closed her down for the rest of the second half and we played really well.”

Defense has led the way for the Pirates, with those two goals by Angel as the only goals the team has allowed so far, even going back to its preseason scrimmages. Goalkeeper Miracle Gonzalez has been strong, with Chloe Hammonds and Sydnea Jones also making a big impact in the back for the Pirates. Kaliegh Graham has been a “grinder” for the team at defensive midfield, Freeman said.

Offensively, after the team struggled to score goals last year, they’re off to a better start with seven goals through four games, led by Anahy Carrera as a scorer and facilitator, along with Mckenna Bell and Linsi Campos Padilla.

“They are learning quickly and the offense is clicking more than it did last year and maybe we’re a little more able to have threats more than just one,” Freeman said.

The Pirates lost the Robeson Cup championship to Purnell Swett in overtime last season, and look to finish one spot better, starting with Saturday’s semifinal against Red Springs, who the Pirates defeated 5-0 in their season opener.

“We played them earlier in the season and had a good result against them, but every time you play somebody again they kind of figure out something new they can use against you,” Freeman said. “Hopefully we can go out there Saturday and continue to build on the progress we’ve made.”

Purnell Swett

The Lady Rams enter the Robeson Cup as the defending champions, and do so after winning their first three matches entering play Friday (3-0, 1-0 United-8).

“I think it’s a good, all-around balanced team,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said. “We’re deep, we’re strong at every position and we have some subs that can come in and fill roles for us at different positions as well. It’s the first time we’ve had a team this deep.”

All three of Purnell Swett’s early victories came by two goals or less, holding the opposition to two total goals in the span.

“(It’s) just the determination to keep fighting and working to get the result was what I was happy about,” Strickland said. “There was no let up; it was the same work ethic for all 80 minutes each game.”

That defensive effort has been led by goalkeeper Adisyn Bland and defenders Jahna Locklear, Alexis Locklear and Jenna Locklear.

“They’ve all been strong and have shown improvement this season,” Strickland said.

Up front, two-time reigning Robeson County Player of the Year Josie McLean returns for her junior season, and has other scoring threats alongside including Anileigh Locklear, Kyndallon Oxendine, Sarah Hunt, Wren Jacobs and Ava Giles.

“They all have the capability to score, to be dangerous with the ball at their feet,” Strickland said.

Purnell Swett has won both editions of the girls Robeson Cup to be contested, with the event starting in 2022. Their run to a potential three-peat begins with Saturday’s game against St. Pauls.

“I just want us to play a complete game right from the get go, right from the beginning, and just keep working and playing hard like we have the previous games,” Strickland said.

Red Springs

Red Springs enters Saturday’s tournament game with a 1-4 record, a potentially misleading mark after the 2A program has played exclusively against 3A and 4A schools thus far.

But the Red Devils have shown growth in doing so, head coach Andrew Hughes said.

“I think we’ve been improving a lot, quite a bit,” Hughes said. “We’ve played some tough opponents, and it’s helped us to pick our game up. We’re starting to gel as a team, and if we can continue to get together and continue to pick up our play we should do pretty good this season.”

Being increasingly competitive against their competition has allowed the Red Devils to begin realizing the potential they have, Hughes said.

“We’ve got a win under our belt against Douglas Byrd, who’s not as strong, but the other teams, we’ve come out slow and then we realize we can play with them towards halftime, but by that time it’s too late,” Hughes said. “We’re understanding that we can actually play and can actually do good things.”

Genesis Morales and Abril Dominguez have been key goal scorers for Red Springs through the opening stretch.

Defensively, Angelique Arizmendi has been strong at center back, helping provide “extra security” for goalkeeper Alena Oxendine, who is “starting to step up her game as well,” Hughes said.

The Red Devils hope their improvement over the three weeks since the season-opening loss to Lumberton can help close the gap and produce a different outcome when the teams meet again for Saturday’s matinee.

“We should do a lot better than the first time (against Lumberton),” Hughes said. “We had a couple players out, but this time we’ll be almost at full strength; hopefully we can come out with a win and kind of show that the 5-0 loss was just a fluke.”

St. Pauls

The start to the season has also been a struggle on the scoreboard for St. Pauls (2-4). But head coach Saul Lopez is looking beyond the scoreboard to see the team’s improvement and capability.

“We keep telling the girls, at some point we have to understand it’s not about the score but improvement,” Lopez said. “It sucks to say, and people may look at wins and losses, but I’d rather lose and play good than win and play terrible. It’s just the way we look at things, game by game. … Just to start off, it’s a work in progress. The team itself has been progressing game by game and on the practice field.”

Like Red Springs, St. Pauls has tested itself largely against schools from higher classifications over the first three weeks of the season.

“The reason we schedule these tougher teams is because it’s a good learning experience for them,” Lopez said. “We’re a smaller school, and (playing) these bigger schools, it’s like we always say, iron sharpens iron.”

Lopez says the team doesn’t necessarily have standout players — in the sense that everyone does their role and is learning to do it increasingly well.

“Everybody has their own specific role and their own responsibility, and it’s up to them to stick to it and be disciplined,” Lopez said.

Thanya Garcia, Neveah Liles and Jessica Muñoz are among the team’s primary goal-scoring threats.

While Saturday’s Robeson Cup match is, in a way, an elevated game with a bigger community spotlight, Lopez says it’s simply the opportunity for the Bulldogs to gain more experience.

“It’s the Robeson Cup; for us it’s just going to be another game, another experience for these girls,” Lopez said.