Elliot Mercado, a junior midfielder from George Mason High School (Falls Church, Virginia), and Kate Summers, a senior defender from Highland Park High School (Dallas, Texas), are the TopDrawerSoccer.com High School Players of the Week.

For Mercado, it seemingly didn’t get much better than the 2014 season. As just as sophomore, the versatile midfielder tallied 40 goals and 19 assists to lead George Mason to a 2A Virginia state championship. While the team might not reach a higher pinnacle this year, it can at least return to the summit, and Mercado’s already looking in mid-season form. Last week alone, he put in four goals and added a pair of assists to key George Mason’s undefeated week of action. The state’s defending champs are off to a fast 6-0 start, and with Mercado already hitting his stride the winning streak could continue unabated for some time.

Highland Park is a well-known name in Texas girls soccer, and the Scots are back in the limelight yet again this week. Thanks to three goals from Summers, a Texas Tech commit, Highland Park streaked past Hendrickson 3-0 in the 6A Region II final to book a spot in the state tournament for Texas’ largest classification. Highland Park won the 4A state title in 2012 and was the state runner-up in 2013, but this year represents a literally bigger challenge. Summers’ hat trick got them into the final four with two sidewinding free kicks and a tidy finish last week. At 22-0-4, the Scots have a chance to polish an unbeaten season later this week.

Other boys finalists include Javier Patlan (Lufkin High School, Lufkin, Texas) and Jon Milligan (Wando High School, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina). Other girls finalists include Rebecca Callison (Battlefield High School, Haymarket, Virginia) and Marlo Zoller (Jenks High School, Jenks, Oklahoma).

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 Will Parchman at wparchman@topdrawersoccer.com. Be sure to include the school 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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