University of Portland sophomore striker Alejandro Salazar was named the College Soccer News National Player of the Week on Nov. 3, after his hat trick led the Pilots past No. 10 ranked San Diego, 4-2 on Sunday.

Salazar becomes the second Pilot to be named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week, as Christopher Sanders earned a spot on the Sept. 29 team. Salazar became the first Pilot to earn the CSN National Player of the Week honor.

He tallied his first two goals of the match within a minute of each other late in the first period. In the 40th minute, Salazar tapped in an easy five yard goal after nice passes from Miguel Guante and Jarrod Weis. A little more than a minute later, he sent a rebound to the back of the net after a Heath Pearce shot was stopped.

San Diego tied the match early in the second half, and after Portland took a 3-2 lead on Sanders’ seventh goal of the season, Salazar provided some insurance and his first career hat trick with a well-placed shot to the right post in the 68th minute. He nearly made it four goals with less than three minutes left, but his shot was headed off the goal line by a Torero defender.

Salazar’s exploits also garnered WCC co-Player of the Week honors alongside Loyola Marymount’s Armando Melendez. Salazar, who also earned the WCC Player of the Week honor on Oct. 6, becomes the only individual to earn the honor twice this season.

A native of Portland and Jesuit High School, Salazar is the Pilots’ and the WCC’s leading scorer with 10 goals. He now has 18 goals in his first two years at Portland.