PEMBROKE — Purnell Swett girls soccer coach Alaric Strickland was concerned his team would potentially play sluggishly in its first game back after spring break.

Anna Lowry and the rest of the Rams put those concerns to rest quickly.

The junior striker scored three goals in the game’s first 22 minutes, propeling the Rams to a 5-0 win over Scotland.

“I was worried about us coming off Easter break in a sense, if we had the legs and the mentality, and luckily, that’s one of the things I asked of them was to be ready to go from the get go, and they were and I’m happy about that,” Strickland said.

Lowry scored her first goal in the game’s 10th minute, then scored two in quick succession with 21 minutes and 18 minutes left in the half. She said the Rams’ mediocre performance in their first game against Scotland — a 3-1 win over the winless Scots on March 17 — provided the motivation for her and the team to play better Monday.

“I think because the last time we played them we didn’t do so well — and especially me, I didn’t get the shots that I wanted to — so I knew when I came into this game, I really wanted to execute and attack, because last time we just didn’t do well at all,” Lowry said. “I felt like we needed to get them quickly so we didn’t have anything to worry about during the game.”

“She’s a leader for us in that area, of scoring goals,” Strickland said. “We expect her to carry us in that form, not exclusively, but a large part is going to be Anna scoring for us.”

Lowry missed two shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half that would have added to her goal total, but the Rams (4-3-1, 4-3-1 Sandhills Athletic Conference) eventually added two more goals. Baleigh Bryant scored off the rebound of a block with 30 minutes remaining, then Jadyn Locklear scored off a corner kick with 19:30 to play.

“I wanted us to keep the pressure on and just keep working and working and keep at it and don’t let up until we felt comfortable, and I wanted everybody to get in the game,” Strickland said. “That was the goal, and everything worked out. Scotland gave us a game, they have some good players, but I thought we played well for the whole 80 minutes.”

Purnell Swett has won three of its last four games after starting 1-1-2. The difference between the 3-1 win in the first meeting with Scotland (0-7, 0-7 SAC) and Monday’s 5-0 game shows the Rams’ improvement as they begin the second time through the SAC schedule.

“We’re still growing. The good thing is we’re getting better as the season goes on and progresses,” Strickland said. “That’s all I can ask is that we keep getting better as the season progresses, and that’s a positive sign if we can keep doing that.

“The way we’re playing, finding people, controlling the possession, and all of that, instead of just kicking and running, we’re looking to play. That’s what we’re asking of them, and they’re trying to do it; it’s working, and hopefully we can keep the trend going.”

The Rams play at league-leading Pinecrest on Wednesday.