Giovanni Savarese named MLS Coach of the Week, Jaroslaw Niezgoda named to Team of the Week

Another week, another strong showing from the Portland Timbers on the MLS Team of the Week.

Giovanni Savarese has been named the Coach of the Week for Week 19, after guiding his Timbers side to a huge 3-0 victory over their rivals the Seattle Sounders in Seattle. Jaroslaw Niezgoda was also named to the Team of the Week, after tallying the opening goal and adding in an assist to help the team to victory.

Goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic was also named to the Team of the Week bench (the seven honorable mentions from the week) after anchoring the backline for their fifth clean sheet of the season.

Savarese has coached Portland to a summer revival, where they have been unbeaten in their past five games and picked up eleven points over that time period— all against Western Conference opposition. Additionally, he added to his sterling undefeated record in Seattle, where he has won five games and drawn once.

Niezgoda earned his second selection in four weeks to the Team of the Week, as he scored his seventh goal of the season on Saturday, which is a team-leading number. He also recorded his first assist of the season, laying the ball off to Dairon Asprilla to score the capper late in the game.

This marks the fourth Team of the Week in a row that the Timbers have representation— a reflection of how impressive their recent upswing in form has been.

Portland is next in action on Sunday July 17, when they host the Vancouver Whitecaps at 7:30 P.M. at Providence Park.