PEMBROKE — Lumberton soccer coach Kenny Simmons inserted senior Alexis Adler into the lineup hoping for an offensive spark in Monday’s match at Purnell Swett.

The Pirates got one.

Adler scored twice, helping lead Lumberton to a 5-0 win over the Rams.

“One of the last things I said before we got off the bus, we were starting him tonight and I mentioned to the team that he’s been contributing offensively the last couple of games, and with that kind of contribution we’ve got to get him on the field tonight as a starter,” Simmons said. “It’s been kind of a hit and miss season with him, because he’s started a few games and he’s come off the bench some. We got him the start tonight, and I’m happy to see him get those goals.”

“The game was good, I liked it,” Adler said. “I liked how we played together, passed the ball. I liked the way we played today.”

Lumberton (8-4-1, 5-1 United-8 Conference) built a first-half lead with two goals, then scored three over the final 23 minutes to pull away from Purnell Swett (4-6-3, 1-4 United-8).

“Credit to Swett tonight, they came in with a good game plan,” Simmons said. “Their plan was to defend in numbers and they basically played with two banks of four lines of players and put as many players behind the ball as they could. They were well-organized defensively, and it took us a while to figure things out a little bit. But eventually we got it going and the goals started coming.”

“We’ve got to maintain for 80 minutes and be strong for 80 minutes,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said. “They’re a good, quality team, they know how to work with each other and find each other, and we just broke down physically and structurally over time and we were exposed.”

Justin Lopez scored the Pirates’ first goal with 13:40 left in the first half, assisted by Korbyn Walton, finding the net amid lots of traffic around the goal.

Adler’s first goal came six minutes later, at the 7:45 mark, on an unassisted 10-yard shot to take a 2-0 lead.

“I just shot the ball and the goalkeeper just slid on it, and that’s a goal,” Adler said.

Lumberton scored its third goal with 23 minutes left, as Robinhio Tanis finished after Walton’s second assist of the match, making it a 3-0 game.

“The third goal was a big goal for us, and that started in our defensive half of the field, and it was like four or five passes we put together, got the ball to the end line, centered a nice ball in front of the goal and I think Robinhio finished that one,” Simmons said. “Good team goal, and then from there, I think that energized the guys a little bit and we finished pretty strong after that.”

Raul Carrera scored a short-range goal, assisted by Bryan Macias, to put the Pirates up 4-0 with 10:23 remaining; Adler’s second goal came with 4:18 to play, as Carrera assisted and Adler’s shot deflected into the net.

Purnell Swett struggled to create quality scoring opportunities for itself throughout the match against the Pirates’ back third.

“That’s execution and being composed to get the ball out, and not panicked just to kick it,” Strickland said. “That’s an issue with this team all year long is them picking their heads up and making a fine, good pass to a teammate that’s open, instead of just kicking it to think they’ve done something good. That’s not what we are, and hopefully as the season progresses we can build on that and hopefully get better.”

Lumberton goalkeeper Isaac Juarez had a clean sheet for the sixth straight shutout for the Pirates and their ninth in the last 10 games.

Despite the score, Purnell Swett goalkeeper Branlon Brooks also played a strong match, making some impressive saves on Pirates shots throughout the match.

“I think he’s the top keeper in the county, but he’s still got to take ownership of his box — not just the six-yard box, but the whole 18-yard box,” Strickland said. “That’s what he’s still got to learn, and when he does that he’s really going to take it to the next level.”

While Lumberton has one makeup match from the first turn through conference play and the Rams have two, Monday’s match still marks the effective end of that first half, with both teams set to face a repeat opponent on Wednesday.

Lumberton does so at 5-1 in the league, taking five straight matches after losing their conference opener to Cape Fear on Sept. 3. The Pirates play the Colts again on Wednesday.

“Coming off the Cape Fear loss back early September, this is what we wanted to accomplish, we wanted to get through undefeated after that loss to them, so that sets up a big matchup Wednesday night at their place,” Simmons said. “We’ve got a lot to play for on Wednesday night, so we’ll have a good practice (Tuesday), get a good game plan together and get ready for that match.”

Purnell Swett will host Gray’s Creek on Wednesday in a match moved up to a 4:30 p.m. start, with the Rams looking for improvement in the second half of the United-8 schedule.

“Hopefully we’ve learned, and they want to get better,” Strickland said. “That’s what we’re asking is, we need more effort and hunger from them, and hopefully they’re going to show it to us as the second half of the season comes around.”