Alvaro Saborio has been named the MLS Player of the Week for Week 22 of the 2013 MLS season.
The Costa Rica striker scored a hat-trick as Real Salt Lake were beaten 4-3 by New York Red Bulls in a thrilling contest at the Red Bull Arena on the weekend.
With the scoreline reading 2-0 to the Red Bulls, Saborio gave RSL some hope when he sent Red Bulls keeper Luis Robles the wrong from the penalty spot after Olmes Garcia had been felled in the area by Markus Holgersson on the stroke of half-time.
Saborio then levelled the match in 80th minute when he tucked home Garcia's deft ball with a first-time effort following a clever run from Luis Gil.
Just two minutes later and RSL were ahead when Saborio completed his hat-trick by producing an audacious toe-poke after being fed by Joao Plata at the top of the box.
Unfortunately for the visitors, former Salt Lake forward Fabian Espindola scored his second of the evening from the penalty spot before a late Dax McCarty header gave New York the win.
Nevertheless, Saborio was rewarded for his brilliant performance to become the second RSL player to get the nod from the North American Soccer Reporters following Garcia's prize in Week 15.
2013 MLS Player of the Week
Week 22: Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake) Week 21: Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire) Week 20: Camilo (Vancouver Whitecaps) Week 19: Brad Knighton (Vancouver Whitecaps) Week 18: Alan Gordon (San Jose Earthquakes) Week 17: Camilo (Vancouver Whitecaps) Week 16: Kenny Miller (Vancouver Whitecaps) Week 15: Olmes Garcia (Real Salt Lake) Week 14: Diego Fagundez (New England Revolution) Week 13: Marco Di Vaio (Montreal Impact) Week 12: Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders) Week 11: Will Bruin (Houston Dynamo) Week 10: Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) Week 9: Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls) Week 8: Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union) Week 7: Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo) Week 6: Ryan Johnson (Portland Timbers) Week 5: Will Johnson (Portland Timbers) Week 4: Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA) Week 3: Bill Hamid (D.C. United) Week 2: Robert Earnshaw (Toronto FC) Week 1: Mike Magee (LA Galaxy)
