It was a point San Pedro High girls soccer intended to prove to all who were a witness.

The Lady Pirate Cup truly belongs to them.

For the first time in six years, they have proof to validate their claim.

San Pedro would do their damage early against visiting neighbor Port Of Los Angeles and would hold on for a gritty 3-1 victory on Wednesday to claim the Lady Pirate Cup Tournament after both teams came into their rare night battle on a roll, each winning all three of their games in the tournament with little to no resistance at all.

However on this day, the Pirates (6-2-2 overall) would be triumphant over the Polar Bears (9-2-2) for the second straight season thanks to the 'tag team' of junior forward Ryann Lozano and junior midfielder Sydney Engel.

"Syd and I have been playing with each other since we were kids," said Lozano, who scored the opening goal in a game which the Pirates dominated for the first 24 minutes en route to a 3-0 lead in the first half. "We make each other better. I couldn't ask for a better partner."

In fact, it was Engel who would feed Lozano with a brilliant touch pass for a quick breakaway, and Lozano obliged by blasting in the goal to the upper right side of the net for a 1-0 lead on POLA in the eighth minute. Just five minutes later, Engel would just squeeze in a close-range goal on the upper left corner of the net, and suddenly the Pirates would grab a 2-0 edge.

POLA would not concede anything easy to the Pirates' all night, but a foul on freshman Britney Delgado led to a free kick by San Pedro junior midfielder Maddie Villela, who would boot the 40-yard shot right at POLA senior goalie Daisy Garcia, who bobbled the ball to the ground. Engel would somehow power it in for her second goal in the 24th minute.

"I think we showed everyone the team we are growing to be and we are getting better with each game we play," said Engel, who scored eight goals in San Pedro's four Lady Pirate Cup victories over the likes of Harbor Teacher Prep of Wilmington, Cabrillo of Long Beach, Roosevelt of Los Angeles and POLA. Engel had a hat trick earlier in the day in San Pedro's 5-0 win over Roosevelt.

Still, the Polar Bears would not go quietly, as a blistering 20-yard free kick for an exciting goal by sensational sophomore Briana Mancilla right before the first half ended in the 35th minute, which somehow hit the center net over the outstretched arms of San Pedro sophomore goalie Carlene Luna, cutting the Pirates' lead to 3-1. 

Mancilla was pretty straight forward on how she felt after she guided that free kick home.

"I was just really happy to put my team on the scoreboard," said Mancilla, who also had an impressive showing in the Pirate Cup with 9 goals in the tournament.

Neither team would score in the second half, and San Pedro had several chances on wide open attempts for sophomore forward Mia Lecesse and senior forward Heather Carlton, but POLA senior goalie Emily Haugen snuffed them out for six saves, and was aided by the gutsy defense of juniors Taylor Razevich-Temblador and Alyssa Medrano. 

"We start off slow but we progressively work it up," Haugen said of her team's scrappiness."Throughout the game we have been real fighters in trying to score goals. We never gave up which is the best part of it all."

Midway through the second half, POLA desperately tried to score to make it even closer, even getting Luna out of position, but senior defender Paige Kielbasa saved them from potential disaster. Somehow the ball went right back to Mancilla, but her shot was denied by Luna on a dramatic diving stop in the 54th minute.

Luna had seven saves of her own, but was quick to praise her line of defense that featured Kielbasa, seniors Lauren Antonelos and Kirra Mardesich, along with sophomore Angelina Camello and junior Maddy Luna, Carlene's sister. Also the great midfield play of Villela will not go unnoticed as she was all over the place for San Pedro.

"They really held it down during crucial moments of the game and it reflected in the results," Carlene Luna said.

When the final whistle blew and the two teams shook hands, the victorious Pirates posted for a team photo with the championship trophy, then flung several water bottles at coach Crystal Valdes as their way of celebrating their first Lady Pirate Cup Tournament championship in the tournament's six year history. Asked on who started or came up with the idea of a bottled water bath, Carlene Luna said matter-of-factly... "It was obviously a team effort."

And that's exactly what San Pedro needed to overcome against a tenacious POLA team.

POLA was missing a couple of key elements in junior forward Anna Vidovich, sophomore defender Christy Messner and senior midfielder Maddi Pepper due to injuries, but it didn't diminish the effort the Polar Bears displayed in getting to this point, as they posted solid victories over Roosevelt, Banning of Wilmington and Marquez of Huntington Park.

"As long as we keep up this effort we will have a great season," said Mancilla, who scored all four goals earlier in the day in POLA's impressive 4-0 victory over Banning at the John M. & Muriel Olguin Campus.

With this win, San Pedro will go into Marine League play in the new year with massive amounts of momentum, confidence and belief in themselves that they can win an 11th straight league championship but until then...

"Nothing feels better winning your own tournament," Lozano said with glee.