Not only is basketball beginning, another big sport around town in the Winter Sports scene is soccer, and there's plenty of talent to behold at San Pedro, Port Of Los Angeles and Mary Star for their boys and girls programs.

San Pedro's boys will once again challenge for a Marine League championship, while San Pedro's girls team appears much more cohesive and a lot more challenging as they pursue a tenth straight league title and longer playoff run in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I playoffs. POLA's girls team is also strong again, as they will again challenge LACES and defending Division III champion Fulton College Prep for Division III supremacy.

Here's a look at all six teams...

BOYS

SAN PEDRO - Coach Peter Hazdovac coached the Pirates to a 12-5-2 season last year, finishing 7-2-1 as the Marine League runner-up, and even winning a first-round playoff game at Monroe of North Hills in overtime. Senior goalie Cele Becerra is last year's News Pilot Goalie Of The Year, as he's someone not afraid to take risks when opposing teams close in trying to score.

Ricky Soto, Eric Sanchez, Antonio Pirozzi and Eduardo Lima, who all make their varsity debuts, all scored Monday in their 4-1 win over University of Los Angeles. San Pedro also has a 2-0 victory over POLA in their resume this season.

Senior forward Daniel Berrucco and junior defender Cristian Sebastiani are two more key players for the Pirates.

MARY STAR - The Stars posted a 12-6 1 record last season, going 5-4-1 in the Camino Real League and winning a CIF-Southern Section Division VII wild card game at Bishop Diego of Santa Barbara.

Chris Guastella takes over the the new coach and the talent he has returning gives Mary Star hope it can stay in the upper half of the league race. Senior forward Raymundo Bravo, junior forward Mike Lim, junior midfielder Jarod Alves, and junior Kevin Lopez are the key contributors to look out for this season.

POLA - The Polar Bears and third-year coach Gerry Pineda look to improve on a disappointing 3-11-2 season last year where they were one game away from reaching the CIF-LACS Division III playoffs, finishing 3-4-1 in the Crosstown League.

Junior forward Ian Martinez adds quickness to a team that still has other talent around, such as senior midfielder Casey Kane, junior forward Giovanny Salazar, senior F/MF Cesar Farias and junior defender Conor Garcia. Martinez made quite an impact last Friday against Mary Star, scoring twice in the first 17 minutes of the first half in a 3-0 victory for the Polar Bears.

POLA will use a two-goalie tandem with junior Brandon Mercado and senior Elias Valenzuela.

GIRLS

SAN PEDRO - Second-year coach Elisa Nagle continues to keep the Pirates afloat in a much-more competitive Marine League. Even though the Pirates' 95-game unbeaten streak in the league was snapped by Banning in the final week of the season, they were quick to respond in the finale with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over runner-up Narbonne in a winner-take-all showdown for the crown.

San Pedro only has three seniors on this team but returns nearly everyone, making them the early favorite for a tenth straight league crown.

Nagle returns plenty of firepower from that team, including the hero of the victory over Narbonne, junior midfielder Rianni Gonzales. Fellow junior midfielder Ashley Lopez is the team's top returning scorer. Sophomores Maddie Villela, Sydney Engel and Ryann Lozano are all very capable. Junior midfielder Heather Carlton is also due for a breakout year after missing all but two games due to injury.

The defense is solid with their junior trio of Gabriella Ma (2014 News Pilot Defensive MVP), Paige Kielbasa and Lauren Antonelos.

If that isn't enough, News Pilot 2014 Goalie Of The Year in junior Taylor Miller returns, but then there's freshman Carlene Luna, who had 17 saves in San Pedro's 2-1 upset victory over Palos Verdes last Friday in the South Torrance Holiday Tournament.

MARY STAR - Losing an extremely gifted player like Jordyn Alves (UC Santa Barbara), who was the face of the Stars' program the last four years, will sting, but coach Shain Rossi still has a team with capbable talent after last year's team went 5-10-1 overall, 0-8 in a cutthroat Camino Real League.

Senior midfielder Dori Lindeman is the top returning goal scorer but you also have to watch out for sophomore Taylor Garcia, who converts from goalie to provide stability in the midfield. Junior defender Alyssa DiMassa, sophomore forward Kaylee Rucker, the 2014 Mary Star Fiesta Queen, sophomore midfielder Anna Stefanou and senior midfielders Sarah Garcia and Alex Figueroa are other key players.

Freshman Kaitn Latka is the new goalie for Mary Star.

POLA - Third-year coach Javier Torres has another strong team on the rise, as POLA may be looking at one final shot at finally overtaking LACES, who defeated the Polar Bears, 1-0 in the CIF-LACS D-III semifinals.

It will be the final shot however for their five-senior tandem of senior midfielders Tiffany Torres, Melissa Rodriguez and Ariella Martinez, senior defender Samantha Walker, and the reigning 2014 News Pilot Girls Soccer Player Of The Year in senior MF/F/D Isabela Van Antwerp, who scored an incredible 26 goals last season.

Both Van Antwerp and last year's 2014 News Pilot Freshman Of The Year, sophomore forward Anna Vidovich are both out with injuries, but both are expected to return by the start of Crosstown League.

In the meantime, new faces have stepped up considerably, with the biggest surprise being freshman forward Briana Mancilla, who already has four goals for the Polar Bears in four games.

Sophomore defenders Alyssa Medrano, Shawnie Carolla and Taylor Razevich-Temblador are all tough-nosed performers, and the Polar Bears also have two tough goalies in juniors Daisy Garcia and Emily Haugen, who figures to get most of the time at the net, putting Garcia in as another tough defender. 

Junior midfielder Maddi Pepper will also figure to be in the mix for carrying the load until Van Antwerp and Vidovich return, making POLA that much more dangerous and put the rest of the CIF-LACS Division II world on notice.