New York, NY – Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio was named the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 18 of the 2012 MLS season on Monday after he scored three second-half goals to give RSL a 3-0 victory over the Portland Timbers.
With the game locked at 0-0 in the 60th minute, Saborio headed his team in front by getting on the other end of a cross from Kyle Beckerman.
He doubled his tally just a few minutes later by tracking down a long ball and beating Portland goalkeeper Troy Perkins to make it 2-0, while Saborio completed his hat trick by scoring from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to play.
The Costa Rican forward has posted three multi-goal games this season and has notched 10 goals in 20 games for Salt Lake so far this campaign.
The MLS Player of the Week award is selected each week by the North American Soccer Reporters. The group consists of members of online, print, television, radio media.
2012 MLS Player of the Week winners:
Week 1: Kalif Alhassan (Portland Timbers)
Week 2: David Estrada (Seattle Sounders FC)
Week 3: Thierry Henry (Red Bull New York)
Week 4: Thierry Henry (Red Bull New York)
Week 5: Thierry Henry (Red Bull New York)
Week 6: Dan Kennedy (Chivas USA)
Week 7: Chris Pontius (D.C. United)
Week 8: Steven Lenhart (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 9: Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 10: Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
Week 11: Dwayne De Rosario (D.C. United)
Week 12: Emilio Renteria (Columbus Crew)
Week 13-15: Patrice Bernier (Montreal Impact)
Week 16: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 17: Danny Koevermans (Toronto FC)
Week 18: Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake)