It has been the goal all season long for Port Of Los Angeles High girls soccer to make it back to a CIF-Los Angeles City Section championship game, and it has not been an easy road.

In the first game of the year, reigning 2014 San Pedro News Pilot Girls Soccer Player Of The Year, senior midfielder Isabela Van Antwerp, goes down with an ACL tear that sidelines her for the rest of the season, and rising sophomore forward Anna Vidovich missed the entire regular season due to a summer concussion. Four-year senior midfielder Melissa Rodriguez was booted off the team three weeks in.

Despite all the hardships that came before them, the Polar Bears never lost focus on their goal, and now, two months later, they have reached it, with one more chance at City Section immortality.

POLA defeated visiting Legacy of South Gate, 1-0 in the semifinals of the CIF-LACS Division IV playoffs at Field Of Dreams in San Pedro Tuesday, booking the top-seeded Polar Bears their third City championship game appearance in four years, and for the fifth straight season, the road to the elusive first City crown must go through second-seeded Los Angeles CES, a 3-1 winner over third-seeded Northridge Academy, on Saturday, 3 pm at Belmont High.

"Getting back to the finals is very rewarding," POLA senior defender Samantha Walker says. "We're looking forward to the challenge again."

All it took for the Polar Bears (22-2-1 overall) was one crucial moment in the 29th minute.

Junior midfielder Maddi Pepper lined in a perfect corner kick from right corner towards senior midfielder Tiffany Torres, who headed it in the left corner of the net for the game's only goal.

"That was a very crucial goal for us," Torres said. "We knew it was going to be a fight, but we worked our way through it and got it done."

Legacy (16-6-4) did have their moments, nearly scoring in the 17th minute with POLA junior goalie Emily Haugen on the ground and out of any position to make the save, but sophomore defender Shawnie Carolla was able to clear it out before the Tigers could get a wide-open opportunity. Legacy's best chance to tie came in the 77th minute, but offside was called. Haugen and sophomore goalie Kamryn Cardoza combined for six saves to preserve the shutout.

"Both our goalies were great for us," Pepper said. "Kamryn did a great job filling in when Emily struggled."

POLA had several chances to break it open with a plethora of breakaway chances by Torres, Vidovich, freshman forward Briana Mancilla and sophomore forward Celina Campbell, along with three free kicks and six corner kicks overall from Pepper, but were unable to run away from Legacy, but it hardly mattered this time around as Torres' lone goal was all the Polar Bears needed on this day.

"I was glad I was able to get it to Tiffany because she knows how to finish," Pepper says.

The one advantage POLA may have this time around in their annual playoff grudge match with LACES, is that they have already faced the Unicorns earlier this season, a 1-1 tie in the Valley Invitational Tournament on January 10 at Valley College, but the Polar Bears have lost to LACES all four years in the playoffs, twice in the championship game and twice in the semifinals, including last year's 1-0 Division III semifinal loss.

However, POLA will definitely be up for the Unicorns considering how battle-tested they have become this year.

It's just another challenge, one final challenge, that the Polar Bears will no doubt plan to overcome.