CFNN Reporter Samara Culpepper

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice. On October 27th, it didn’t need to. Once was enough, as our boys soccer team defeated Lumberton 1-0 for the first time ever in a conference match.

The win put the Colts in the driver’s seat in the United 8 Conference for the first time since Lumberton joined the Conference. The Colts now eye a home playoff berth in the upcoming weeks.

“It was a tough win. We were down two of our starters and went into double overtime,” says Head coach Pagon. 

The team was missing their starting Goalie and Center Mid who were out for injuries, but against all odds, the boys left Robeson County with a huge win against the Pirates, putting Cape Fear and Lumberton at a tie for first in the conference. 

This historic milestone follows a long history of losses by large margins in the past. Last year, Lumberton won over Cape Fear 5-0, and in 2022 the Pirates won by a whopping 7-1. This has been a repeating pattern for the last several years. 

Pagon described this game as “survival of the fittest.” Due to the team being down two starters and scoring nothing in the first 90 minutes of the match, several adjustments were to be made.

For the first 90 minutes of the game, the Colt defense managed to hold off the Pirate offense, but couldn’t rally to score. With only 2 minutes left in double overtime, Max Risenmay shot a beautiful left footer into the net, putting the Colts up 1-0 for the chance at a dramatic victory.

“They beat us last year; we kept the receipt. We just showed them who wanted it more,” said Risenmay.

The Colts defense then held off Lumberton for the final two minutes to secure the win for the Colts. The game was close, but the Colts put up a great fight and managed to pull out a win. 

Pagon says this game was won because “It was a total team effort. Everyone contributed and stayed focused throughout the match. I believe this win is a great confidence boost for our guys and should propel us to more wins in the future.” 

He believes that the team will keep it up to secure more wins in the future.

We should be expecting the boys to win the conference and move onto states, according to Pagon. He expects the team to have a great remainder of the season and finish on a high note.

Come check out the team today as they travel to Lee County to take on the Lee Senior Yellowjackets in another exciting non conference matchup.