Last year, Ryann Lozano hardly got off the bench for San Pedro High girls soccer during her freshman season and the Pirates got off to a rough start before winning a ninth straight Marine League championship.

Now, Lozano got her opportunity at the very start of this season, and has ran with it to a magnificent scoring year in helping put San Pedro on the cusp of another league crown, as the Pirates host rival Narbonne of Harbor City today at 4 pm with a tenth straight league title at stake.

"Last year was hard, I'm not going to lie," says Lozano, who leads the Pirates with 20 goals. "I just told myself to stay strong and be supportive of the team. But now that I get to play, especially with all my friends, I can say the wait was well worth it."

It was evident by the first game of the season that the sophomore forward was destined for greatness when she blasted a shot from the 18 to force a 1-1 tie with visiting Birmingham of Lake Balboa.

"That was my first real game, and adding that goal to the last minute for the tie was an amazing feeling," Lozano says. "That Birmingham game definitely helped impact myself by giving me that extra boost to carrying on for the season."

So far this season, Lozano has delivered three hat trick performances against Taft of Woodland Hills, and both Marine League victories over Banning of Wilmington, where Lozano has scored seven times against the Pilots. Lozano has also delivered some clutch tying or go-ahead goals against the likes of Port Of Los Angeles, Notre Dame Academy and Hawthorne.

One of Lozano's other top moments for San Pedro (16-6-3 overall, 8-0 league) didn't even involve her scoring, as she assisted fellow sophomore midfielder Maddie Villela for the goal that powered the Pirates to a 1-0 victory over Narbonne on January 23, which gives the Pirates the head-to-head advantage for today's rematch.

San Pedro can clinch the Marine League title with either a victory or a tie.

"Playing against Narbonne is always a great game because they're a great competitor," Lozano says. "The motivation is in the game itself because you get to say at the end of the day, you left it all on the field."

With Lozano's scoring surge this season, combined with other key contributions from Villela, sophomore midfielder Sydney Engel, freshman goalie Carlene Luna and junior midfielder Heather Carlton, the Pirates will look to make another run at the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I championship. The Pirates have lost in the first round three of the last four seasons, including last year's penalty kick shootout defeat to Bell.

That fact alone, does not discourage Lozano, nor the rest of the Pirates.

"I believe in this team 100% that we'll go far in the City playoffs this year," Lozano says. "Every individual here is an important part of this team and if we stick together, I know that we can do it."