It may not have been for an outright victory, but it was a definite feeling of deja vu for San Pedro High girls soccer and junior midfielder Rianni Gonzales.

Nearly a year ago to this day, Gonzales nailed a dramatic free kick off the post for a goal that provided the Pirates a 2-1 victory over Narbonne of Harbor City and another Marine League championship. This time, Gonzales was called upon once again, except this time, the visiting Gauchos were in possession of a 1-0 lead in this rivalry battle where the league crown was once again on the line.

Gonzales' kick once again hit the left side of the goal post, but Narbonne junior goalie Nitza Castillo was late to react to the ball, deflecting it to the head of San Pedro sophomore midfielder Maddie Villela, who powered it through in the 53rd minute, tying the contest at 1-1, and that was final.

As a result of the deadlock, San Pedro (16-6-4 overall, 8-0-1 league) would clinch its tenth consecutive Marine League championship, and 14th league title in 15 years.

"When the coach called my name to take that kick, I knew it was a do-or-die moment," Gonzales said. "And in that moment, I was praying that it goes in. Once I kicked it, I held my breath and all I saw was Maddie heading it in."

Ironically enough, Villela was the only one to score in the first meeting where San Pedro won, 1-0 over Narbonne on January 23 at Narbonne High, which gave the Pirates the psychological advantage in this rematch, but it would be the Gauchos (11-4-2, 7-1-1) who scored first on senior forward Claudia Sanchez heading in a corner kick 15 minutes into the game.

Narbonne would get six shots on goal in the first half, good enough to carry the slim lead into halftime.

San Pedro was quick to respond with Villela's tying goal, but four minutes later, sophomore forward Ryann Lozano had a breakaway chance that just missed to the left as she beat the lunging Castillo with a perfect ground shot.

Then in the 64th minute, the Pirates dodged a fatal bullet when Narbonne senior midfielder Melissa Diaz blasted a shot from 30 yards away off the right goal post with freshman goalie Carlene Luna out of position when she mis-timed her dive for the save, but luckily Carlene's sister, sophomore defender Maddy Luna, would clear the ball.

"Narbonne always comes to compete," Maddy Luna said. "They give us a real battle but winning another Marine League title against them shows how strong we are and that we can always work together effectively to get victories in key situations."

Carlene Luna made three clutch saves down the stretch to preserve the tie, and the league title.

"I did what I had to do to compensate for the work my team and specifically the defense in front of me," Carlene Luna said. "Everything I do is for the betterment of them."

With this narrow tie which felt like a victory, San Pedro should get a decent seed in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I playoffs as they close the season out on Thursday at Washington Prep of Los Angeles, but the Pirates will savor this one for a while as their tradition of winning Marine League titles continue once again.

"It feels good to continue the success of our program," Villela said.