Eliseo Ortiz, a senior forward from Rivera High School (Brownsville, Texas), and Rachel Johnson, a senior goalkeeper from Coppell High School (Coppell, Texas), are the TopDrawerSoccer.com High School Players of the Week.

Ortiz burst onto the scene in 2014 with a 25-goal season in his first year on varsity. The lanky forward helped guide Rivera to a 22-win campaign and within a game of the state tournament. This year, he’s upped his game for the Raiders, who are an incredible 23-0-0 through the second round of the playoffs. That’s thanks in large part to Ortiz, who put in all three goals for Rivera in a 3-1 victory over Del Rio last week. He scored two in rapid succession in the game’s opening 15 minutes and added an insurance goal in the second half. Rivera, ranked No. 2 in the latest TDS winter rankings, is closing in on a rare perfect season with just a few games left. 

On the girls side, Coppell found itself in a dogfight in just the regional quarterfinal round of the playoffs. In Plano West, Coppell faced off against a team seeking its fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament. It had won the title in two of those trips. The teams slogged through a 1-1 draw through regulation, which brought up a nervy round of penalty kicks. Johnson made two huge saves on each of West’s first two attempts and Coppell managed to win penalties 4-1 to advance to the next round. With titan Plano West out of the way, the state’s top-ranked Coppell will be favored to win the title from here on out.

Other boys finalists include Vince Nolette (Creighton Prep High School, Omaha, Nebraska) and Tanner Corrie (Snohomish High School, Snohomish, Washington). Other girls finalists include Jackie Welch (New Trier High School, Winnetka, Illinois) and Paige Filpek (Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora, Illinois).

The TopDrawerSoccer.com High School Player of the Week honor is designed to highlight a selection of the nation's rising stars populating the high school ranks. Coaches are free to nominate a boys or girls player each week by emailing their submission to Will Parchman at [email protected]. Be sure to include the school, position, grade year and any relevant stats from the previous week. The selection process will take into account a slew of factors from contribution to team results to individual accolades. Honorees are announced each Wednesday.

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