TX Playoffs: Borjas nets three as Elsik take Seven Lakes down

Tickets to the State Tournament were up for grabs all over the Lone Star State on Tuesday, as high school soccer teams in Texas played in the final stage of the playoffs, the Regional Finals, with the four winners advancing to the Final Four.   Prep Soccer Texas followed one of the many matches held in the Houston area on Tuesday, April 1, which had the Alief Elsik Rams taking down two-time defending champions Seven Lakes Spartans with a massive 5-1 victory at Crump Stadium in front of a huge crowd.   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><a href="https://prepsoccer.com/2025/04/texas-hs-boys-playoffs-alief-elsik-vs-seven-lakes-photos/">Photos: Alief Elsik vs. Seven Lakes</a></li> </ul>   Trying to return to the State Tournament to defend the titles they won in the last two seasons, Seven Lakes had a promising start, scoring in the fourth minute, after junior [player_tooltip player_id='90419' first='Anthony' last='Sorto'] drove the ball on the left and crossed it to junior Dante Niemeyer, who sent it into the back of the net with a left-footed shot. Their lead didn't last long, though, as three minutes later junior Ovilson Castillo hit a perfect shot into the upper corner to tie the game. With five minutes to go in the first half, senior Cesar Borjas started to make a difference, getting the ball in the box after a hustle play by sophomore Andres Rosales and seeing his shot deflected on a Seven Lakes defender and go in.   The Spartans seemed like they were going to challenge the Rams in the second half and hit the crossbar with a long-distance shot from Sorto in the eighth minute. Their mission became more complicated three minutes later, when Elsik senior Asa Marsh took the ball to the end line and delivered it to Borjas, who found the back of the net again. With three minutes left on the clock, Borjas switched roles with Rosales, feeding his teammate to score the team's fourth goal with an easy tap-in. The senior completed his hat-trick with just over 30 seconds left, following up on a shot from senior Matt Rodriguez and sending the ball into an open net.   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Time ends here and fans explode as <a href="https://twitter.com/ElsikSoccer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ElsikSoccer</a> take down two-time defending champions <a href="https://twitter.com/SLsoccer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SLsoccer</a> 5-1 to win the Regional Championship. Photos and Match Report up soon at <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepSoccerTX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepSoccerTX</a>. <a href="https://t.co/TGA4nNOYqL">pic.twitter.com/TGA4nNOYqL</a>— Guilherme Torres (@grtorres) <a href="https://twitter.com/grtorres/status/1907260721865388519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></blockquote>   The victory improved Elsik's season record to 23-2 and made of them the Region 3 champions in the Conference 6A - Division 1 Playoffs. The Rams will play Vista Ridge for a spot in the Championship Game later this week.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Players of the Match</h2>    The senior forward was highly influential in Elsik's victory, leading the team with three goals and an assist. Borjas was always very dangerous up top and managed to create chances pretty much every time he got on the ball. His positioning inside the penalty box was consistently great and put him in excellent spots to finish chances, but he also did well when he had to operate a little bit deeper, making good runs on the ball and connecting with his teammates extremely well. Two of the three goals scored by Borjas weren't easy ones, but he got it done with excellent shots, displaying impressive finishing skills.    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Goal <a href="https://twitter.com/ElsikSoccer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ElsikSoccer</a> ! It's a hat-trick for Cesar Borjas, who follows up on a <a href="https://twitter.com/matt_rod2025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@matt_rod2025</a> shot as the Rams now lead 5-1 into the last minute. <a href="https://t.co/rd12F3MXP5">pic.twitter.com/rd12F3MXP5</a>— Guilherme Torres (@grtorres) <a href="https://twitter.com/grtorres/status/1907259869649912059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></blockquote>    Besides scoring five goals against the defending champions, the Rams also deserve credit for keeping their opponents' offense scoreless for 75 minutes and the senior center back played a major role in it. Positioned in the center of the team's back three, Guillen had a flawless performance, playing with tremendous stability and doing an excellent job of shutting down Seven Lakes' attempts. The defender protected his team's penalty box with tremendous efficiency, winning many duels on the ground and rising above everyone else to make clearances in the air. Guillen was also very active in possession, playing a central role in the team's buildup and connecting accurate long passes out of the back.    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/04/2J4A0110.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-284195" /></figure>    The junior forward was a key piece of Elsik's offensive system and strongly contributed to the team's dominant victory, tallying a goal and an assist. Rosales combined extremely well with Borjas, as the two displayed great chemistry and unselfishness in working together and creating chances for one another. He had the most freedom among the two to move around the final third and displayed a great work rate to chase long passes and fight in aerial duels, helping his team win possession on many occasions. Rosales' excellent performance was rewarded with the team's fourth goal.    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/04/2J4A0084.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-284189" /></figure>    The midfielder helped the Rams dominate the center of the field, playing with great determination and intensity. Operating alongside fellow senior Jacob Ordonez, Moreno was very active defensively and his ability to cover ground and win duels forced Seven Lakes to insist on wide plays as they tried to penetrate Elkins' backline. He also did solid work in possession, distributing the ball efficiently and driving it forward with runs through the middle, especially in transition plays.     The senior winger was a constant threat to Seven Lakes using his pace and quality on the ball to attack their backline from wider spots. Marsh spent time on both sides and was always dangerous, playing very directly when he had the ball and wasting no time to put opposing defenders under pressure. He was very strong in 1v1 situations and created the play that led to the team's third goal by taking on a defender, but became even more dangerous in the final portion of the match, when Seven Lakes allowed him space to run in transition. Marsh also displayed a great work rate, tracking back and helping his team defend until the final whistle.    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/04/2J4A0038.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-284177" /></figure>    The junior forward was clearly playing through an injury and had to leave the field on both halves to get treatment. When he was on the field, Taylor was among Seven Lakes' best offensive options as, with the team struggling to create chances in combination plays through the middle, his ability to dribble the ball gave their offense a different look. The forward did a good job of getting on the end of long passes and also had some strong runs on the wings, which were some of the best moments of his team in the match.    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/04/2J4A0040.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-284178" /></figure>

Tickets to the State Tournament were up for grabs all over the Lone Star State on Tuesday, as high school soccer teams in Texas played in the final stage of the playoffs, the Regional Finals, with the four winners advancing to the Final Four.