LUMBERTON – As part of preparations for conference play and beyond, the Lumberton boys soccer team has begun the season with a difficult schedule.

While this likely leaves the Pirates better prepared for the tough competition they may face in the future, it also resulted in the team starting off 0-3 after a 4-1 home loss to Pinecrest in non-conference play on Thursday.

Pinecrest (1-1) turned a 1-1 halftime tie into a three-goal win by capitalizing on scoring opportunities in the second half and limiting the Pirates’ chances in the final third.

“We weren’t very focused overall in our game tonight,” Lumberton coach Kenny Simmons said. “I don’t want to make any excuses, but I feel like last night’s game against Ashley took a little too much out of us physically. We tried so hard last night and it was a very physical game and I think that showed in the second half tonight and we just didn’t seem to have it.”

The Patriots scored the game’s first goal three minutes into the game; Lumberton tied it six minutes into the game when Raul Carrera scored on an assist from Justin Lopez.

“We fell behind early, then fought back and scored with Raul, a nice ball, a little lob to the far post from Justin Lopez to equalize,” said Simmons. “The rest of the half was pretty even.”

Pinecrest took a 2-1 lead with a close-range goal less than four minutes into the second period. A Patriots free kick goal with 13:17 left made it 3-1, then Pinecrest scored its final goal at 6:45.

“Overall, we weren’t sharp and crisp with our passing tonight, so I was a little disappointed with our possession. And then I think we had to resort to a more direct game than we wanted to, and they defended that pretty well,” Simmons said. “So it was a tough night for us on offense.”

Lumberton lost 6-2 to Laney in the season opener last Friday and 4-3 to Ashley on a late penalty kick on Wednesday. Simmons hopes the tough early season schedule will help the Pirates in the long run.

“That’s how we approach it and that’s how we look at it. We put the schedule together and wanted to challenge ourselves early in the season,” Simmons said. “And unfortunately, you lose two scrimmages because of weather that you could have worked on, and then we lost another early non-conference game. So we played three games to start the season against three playoff regulars, teams that have traditionally had good long playoffs. So we weren’t playing against weak opponents by any means. But at the same time, we know that those games can help us down the road and prepare us for conference season and beyond.”

Lumberton, which has won all four Robeson Cup tournaments since the event’s inception, will play a Robeson Cup semifinal against Purnell Swett on Saturday at St. Paul’s.

“It’s about the county’s bragging rights,” Simmons said. “We’re starting with (Purnell) Swett, and the Swett-Lumberton rivalry is always a big deal, so we’re going to regroup and go out there on Saturday and look forward to the Robeson Cup and the whole atmosphere that comes with that exhibition matchup and hopefully play well and then see how it goes.”