Picture this: it’s a CIF semi-final soccer match. Panthers are down 2-1 with minutes left on the clock, morale’s collapsed, and hopes are practically crushed. There was only one way out: captain forward Joe Benitez. In the final minute of the game, Benitez positions himself perfectly and gets on the end of a cross, salvaging the Panthers’ season and invigorating the team into overtime. As we all know, this led to the Panthers capturing the 2025 CIF Division 7 Championship. Without Benitez, the season would’ve likely ended that day for the eventual champions.
Benitez has been playing soccer since he was five-years-old, when he began playing for LA Premier, one of the biggest and best clubs in the state, consistently ranking within the top 25 of youth soccer programs in California. Although Benitez no longer plays for them, LA Premier helped him develop not only a solid base of skills but also one of his more defining attributes, his leadership.
Junior striker Momo Tonthat added, “Joe is a great leader and is always dedicated. He is a great model for some of the younger kids, and he helps everyone on the team to do better.”
As senior captain of the team, Benitez plays a major role, both in terms of his leadership and production. So far in the season, he’s put up 7 goals and 15 assists in 14 games, a great start to his senior campaign.
Junior leftback Ethan Greenberg shared, “I’ve known Joe for quite some time, and he’s just someone who you want on the field, not only for his skill but also for who he is as a great person and leader.”
Greenberg also commented on the impact of Benitez’s absence earlier in this season: “Joe was hurt for a couple of weeks at the start of the season, and we didn’t know if he’d be able to play against Prep.”
Luckily, the star center attacking midfielder returned in time for the rivalry game against Flintridge Prep. In that match, Benitez opened up the scoring with a header off an assist from Greenberg, which helped propel the Panthers to a huge 3-1 win.
Greenberg reflected, “Having Joe on the field calms the team down and allows us to play the way we like to, which would be something we really needed during a high-stakes rivalry match like Prep.”
As a two-year captain and four-year starter, Benitez brings versatility and a packing punch for the Panthers. Head coach Dan Sheridan noted, “Joe’s soccer awareness, spacing where to play the ball, when to pass versus when to dribble versus when to shoot. He has a pretty good awareness. He takes all our set pieces, so that helps. I just think his overall awareness of the game is really good, which is why we play him at center attacking mid.”
Benitez, a first-team All-Prep League and first-team All-CIF Southern Section selection, aims to continue his dominance in his senior season. With a 9-4-1 record so far this season and a dominant 4-0 in Prep League action, the Panthers aim to capture their seventh straight Prep League Title and Benitez’s fourth of his high school career.
