It may be a football adage, but if defense wins championships, then the North Torrance girls soccer team looks well-stocked to repeat as Pioneer League champion.

North returns all four of its starting fullbacks from last year's squad, which ran the table in league play and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs.

Alicia Taw, who was first-team all-league and first-team All-CIF last year, will play sweeper again and anchor the Saxons defense.

"Our defense is going to win us games," Taw said. "I have high expectations of our team this year. I think we are going to win league and go on to win CIF."

Taw will have senior and Cal State Dominguez Hills recruit Mellissa Livergood playing in front of her at stopper and will be flanked by Alyssa Yamauchi and Helen Padilla.

"Our defense is definitely our strength at this point," first-year coach Dave Christensen said.

Before coming to North, Christensen coached the Valley Christian boys soccer team to seven Olympic League titles in his 14-year tenure and also coached the Biola University women's team into the nation's top 25 for the first time in school history. Christensen aims to keep the program on track as he takes over for Erick Miseroy.

"I'm kind of going with the flow this year. If it was a losing program, I'd clean house and change things around," Christensen said. "I'm happy to just step into a program that has the opportunity to be elite and have a possible chance to do well in the Division V playoffs."

North lost five players from last year's squad and has some holes to fill at the midfield and forward spots.

"We may need to move some people around to fill those gaps. I think we have a pretty good midfield, but we may need to experiment with our forwards to score some goals," Christensen said. "It's going to be more of a balanced kind of attack.

"I hope I have a true goal scorer, but I'm not sure that I do. I think Lyndsey Nelson has that potential."

Nelson, who was named second-team all-league, scored 14 goals as a sophomore last year. Despite her early-season struggles, she will be expected to carry a lot of the load on offense.

"I just need to finish my shots," Nelson said. "They are there, but I just need to put them away. Once that starts happening, it will help our offense a lot."

Experience and familiarity are two things in abundance at North; the Saxons have 12 seniors on the team.

"I have a hungry group of seniors who experienced success last year and would like to continue that. I think that gives us a good shot at the league title," Christensen said.

South Torrance: Third-year coach Brad Gomez has the players to make South's first year in the Pioneer League a successful one. South returns 15 lettermen and 10 of its 11 starters. Senior goalkeeper Alyssa Congdon is South's most dynamic player and should help keep the Spartans in games. Midfielder Lenna Lamas leads a group of five sophomore starters, including four who started as freshmen. Sophomores Lauren Hein and Myla Senff return at the forward positions to key the Spartans' attack. South again will play the entire season without arguably its best player, Jordan Alivid, following her second knee surgery in as many years.

El Segundo: Juan Mosquera enters his ninth season at the head of the Eagles' bench and will look to improve upon last year's third-place finish in league and first-round exit in the Division V playoffs. El Segundo boasts an experienced group of defenders, led by sweeper Camille Kubler, who was named first-team all-league as a freshman last year. Senior captains Kaycee Wilke and Kellye Larsen will play key roles on defense and hope to lead the Eagles to their first league title since 2000. Junior Bronwyn O'Neill will be looked upon to step up her play in net. Senior Tasha Anderson will be counted on to lend her experience to her fellow forwards -- sophomore Leanna Timoteo and freshman Natalie Barbosa. El Segundo returns 11 lettermen and six starters.

Torrance: Torrance alumnus Traci Castro and Sara Marks take over as co-coaches of the team. Castro's parents started the girls soccer program at Torrance in 1977. First-team all-leaguer Kaitlin Bollen and second-team all-leaguer Rachael Lyons lead a group of seven senior starters, four of whom comprise the midfield. Despite losing five starters from last season's team, the Tartars return 11 lettermen and boast a deep bench, particularly on defense.

Lawndale: Michelle Kallas takes over a young and developing program at Lawndale. Sisters Phelina and Pricilla Herrera look to be the two players to watch for on a team that has only three seniors. Kaylie Campos and Crystal Valenzuela are vying for time in goal. The raw talent and speed of sophomore forward Natalie Soto make her the team's top scoring threat despite never having played at the high school or club levels.