WILMINGTON - It was a happy Homecoming no doubt for Port Of Los Angeles High School as the boys and girls soccer teams both took it to crosstown neighbor Mary Star a Los Angeles Harbor College this past Friday.

The POLA girls soccer team rebounded from a tough 2-0 loss to crosstown neighbor Mary Star and overcame a sluggish first half against the Stars by imposing their will early and often in the second half with five goals en route to a 5-0 victory. Junior midfielder Maddi Pepper would score twice, the first and final goals of POLA's incredible second-half onslaught.

"I think we had a lot of opportunities beforehand and I was happy to get one in for the team," said Pepper, noting that POLA outshot Mary Star, 11-1 in the first half before she put one through in the early stages of the second half.

Pepper's goal opened the floodgates as freshman midfielder Briana Mancilla, senior midfielder Melissa Rodriguez and freshman midfielder Sachi Verner all scored in the second half before Pepper's final goal off a roundhouse kick in the 71st minute put the exclamation point on POLA's decisive victory. POLA and Mary Star had a dramatic 2-2 tie in last year's meeting.

This time, the Polar Bears (2-1 overall) made sure they finished.

"No matter who the opponent is, we're always going to come together and give it our all," Pepper said.

Even though she didn't play due to a knee injury, senior midfielder Isabela Van Antwerp, who also sat out the game at San Pedro, was crowned 2014 Homecoming Queen.

Junior goalie Emily Haugen only needed one save to record her first shutout of the season for POLA. The best scoring chance for the Stars (2-1) came in the first half as sophomore midfielder Taylor Garcia's long range attempt was hauled in by Haugen.

In the boys game, two early goals by sophomore forward Ian Martinez would spark POLA to a 3-0 victory over Mary Star, as they too fought back from a 2-0 loss to San Pedro earlier this past Monday. The Polar Bears (1-1) would add a third goal in the 69th minute with senior midfielder Cesar Farias. Goalies Brandon Mercado and Elias Valenzuela combined to make five saves for the shutout.