The San Pedro High girls soccer team is rapidly becoming the talk of not only the town, but as a potential favorite in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division 1 title race.

For the second year in a row on Friday, the Pirates claimed their second straight Lady Pirate Cup Tournament championship with a 2-1 victory over visiting Bishop Montgomery of Torrance in the final game of Division 1 pool play, after also defeating crosstown neighbor Port Of Los Angeles 3-0 earlier in the day. An impressive showing after getting routed 6-0 by Redondo Union last week.

Co-head coaches Crystal Valdes and Chatelaine Ansaldi boast a deep and determined team that ran roughshod through the field, with two dominant victories on Wednesday, besting Verdugo Hills of Tujunga 7-0, and then knocking off Los Angeles CES, 5-0 both at Pirate Stadium.

Senior midfielder Catherin Corea became a major player for San Pedro (8-1-1 overall) during the tournament, scoring five goals, including a hat trick against Verdugo Hills. Freshman Riley Cameron, senior Priscilla Moran, along with juniors Kenia Torres and Kiriana Teofilo all made vital contributions as well to match the exploits of three All-City returners in junior goalie Carlene Luna and senior midfielders Maddie Villela and Sydney Engel.

In the final against Bishop Montgomery, Engel would score a quick goal in the seventh minute, and the overall defense of the entire San Pedro team would make it stand up at the half. Corea would then deliver a clutch goal off sophomore midfielder Samantha Martinez's assist for a 2-0 lead in the second half before the Knights scored later.

Luna made the final of her nine saves with literally a second left off a free kick before the referees blew the long final whistle.

San Pedro would rely on Engel, Corea and freshman midfielder Renee Ketner, along with tough defense by senior Maddy Luna and junior Angelina Camello, to keep POLA at bay earlier in the day. Engel and Ketner's two first half goals would galvanize the Pirates, and then Corea would put the Polar Bears away with her late second half goal.

Villela, who's a Marymount California commit, scored twice on Wednesday against Los Angeles CES.

Meanwhile, POLA (5-3) would struggle in the Lady Pirate Cup with a trio of 3-0 losses to San Pedro, Bishop Montgomery and Taft of Woodland Hills, but closed out their tournament showing in a mighty way with a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles CES on Friday afternoon.

Freshmen Natalia Iniguez and Keely Bales scored both of the goals, while freshman goalie Katelyn Viducic registered nine saves for POLA, who had been tormented by the Unicorns in the past, losing five CIF-LACS playoff games in a row from 2011-2015, all occurring in either the semifinals or the championship game itself. Two of the Polar Bears' seasoned veterans, senior Anna Vidovich and junior Briana Mancilla, assisted on the goals.

San Pedro and POLA will next either resume or start their respective leagues on January 11, 2017.