Athlete of the Week: South City’s Eduardo Pedemonte

Now, with South City’s 1-1 tie against Woodside, followed by a dramatic 1-0 win over first-place Menlo-Atherton, Pedemonte has two goals to his credit, with both coming in key spots to earn him Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors.

“That kid has energy,” South City assistant coach Manny Rodriguez said. “That kid has heart.”

These virtues translated into two goals when the Warriors needed them the most. Currently in second place in the PAL Bay Division, South City was facing a potential landslide last Wednesday in trailing Woodside 1-0 in the second half. A loss to the seventh-place Wildcats would have been debilitating, not just emotionally, but also in the standings as it would have sunk the Warriors seven points back of M-A in the standings.

That’s when Pedemonte stepped up, taking a cross pass from junior Marlon Lopez to boom a shot from approximately 25 yards out, burying it for the first goal of his varsity career.

“I really didn’t know how to react,” Pedemonte said. “It was a crazy moment. I just turned around and saw everyone running towards me. It was pretty surreal.”

That’s nothing compared to the sophomore’s heroics against M-A. In earning a tie against Woodside, the Warriors entered last Friday’s showdown with the first-place Bears four points back in the standings. South City hung in all afternoon with M-A though, despite getting outshot in the contest, by taking a scoreless tie into the closing minutes.

The Warriors had senior goalkeeper Julio Martin to thank for keeping M-A off the scoreboard. The fourth-year varsity keeper turned in one magnificent save on a Bears’ corner kick in the second half in which he seemed to come out of nowhere.

“We thought it was going to be an easy header for an easy goal,” Rodriguez said. “But Julio just came out of nowhere on the line to make a play.”

Despite the stellar defense, South City’s prospects weren’t looking good when senior forward Christian Vasquez departed late in the game due to a minor injury. Vasquez leads the Warriors with seven goals on the year. Stepping into his shoes? The one they call “Junior.”

“[Pedemonte] is just one of the fastest players,” Rodriguez said. “So, he can put pressure on the goalie.”

The sophomore also proved one of the gutsiest players on the team — literally. With time winding down, the M-A defense thwarted a South City advance in the back rank, and the Bears’ defender was in the process of putting the ball back to his goalkeeper to clear the ball out of danger.

Pedemonte read the pass off the defender’s foot though. And he took a chance, making a run at the goalkeeper to try to regain possession. And, boy, did he.

The M-A keeper received the ball. But with Pedemonte breathing down his neck, he opted to try and clear the ball anyway. He let loose with a boomer, but by that time it was too late, as Pedemonte blocked the kick in truly gutsy fashion — with his stomach.

“I saw they were trying to pass it back to their goalkeeper and I tried to intercept it,” Pedemonte said. “And I was running towards it, I got to it, he tried to kick it out and it hit me. And it perfectly bounced right in front of me so I could get a shot.”

With the ball right at Pedemonte’s feet with a clear look — chalk one up for the no-pain, no-gain approach — he swiftly booted in the game-winner.

“It hurt for a little bit,” Pedemonte said. “But after I scored it was good. I’m fine.”

With the victory, South City remains within striking distance in the PAL Bay Division standings with six regular-season games to go.

“I think it was important because our main goal is to win league,” Pedemonte said. “We know [M-A] is a good team. So, it’s important to see how we can do against a good team like that.”