It was complete determination for San Pedro High girls soccer. Consider the first round loss of last year as an afterthought... lightning wasn't going to strike twice.

Behind two goals from senior midfielder Emily Pulido, the host Pirates were able to hold off a young, hungry team from Hamilton of Los Angeles in the first round of the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I playoffs with a 2-0 victory that averted the possibility of two consecutive opening round exits.

Pulido would score in the 7th and 51st minutes of this game off assists by junior forward Joanna Perone in the first half, and senior forward Shadow Ansaldi in the second half, and senior goalie Koral Costa would make it stand up with three saves for the third-seeded Pirates' ninth consecutive shutout in as many games.

San Pedro (10-6-4) hasn't allowed a goal since a first half goal during a 1-1 Marine League tie with Narbonne of Harbor City on January 13.

Strong defense continued to be evident from senior defender Jessica Ma and Abigail Nunez, along with junior defender Brooke Jensen, providing solid backup for Costa, only allowing No.14 Hamilton (12-9-1) five shot attempts, and doing a great job in marking the Yankees' top scorer, sophomore forward Karen Pimentel, who came into the game with 18 goals on the season.

San Pedro hosts the No.6 Cleveland-No.11 Bravo Medical Magnet winner on Wednesday in the quarterfinals at San Pedro High.