Eric Merten had a goal and an assist, and Christian Curiel and Jason Crevar also scored as the Willamette Valley Firebirds topped the Espana All-Star team 3-0 in an exhibition game in front of 200 hardy fans who endured the drizzle and cold temperatures at West Albany High School.

From the opening kickoff, the Firebirds controlled the ball for much of the game, with good midfield control, and several runs from the wings during the first half kept the Espana team back on it's heels, as they would be for most of the night. In the 15th minute, a hard foul just ouside the box set up a free kick cross which Eric Merten headed on goal. The Espana goalkeeper made a good save on the first header, but couldn't keep control of the ball, and Merten headed in his own rebound for a 1-0 lead.

Play then shifted to the midfield, with neither team getting a good attack on goal until the 25th minute when Espana had their best scoring chance of the game. A well played through ball had Sergio Villalobos behind the defenders, but Firebirds goalkeeper Colin McMillen cut down the angle at the top of the box, and deflected the shot off his chest to keep the shutout.

In the 40th minute, the Firebirds went up 2-0 when Joey Leonetti made a run up the right side, and sent a low cross which somehow got by two Espana defenders. Christian Curiel ran onto the ball and made a good strike into the upper right hand corner of the goal.

In the second half, the Espana team did a better job of matching the Firebirds play in the middle of the field, but could not make any serious attack on goal. In the 70th minute, the Firebirds found the net again when Eric Merten headed the ball over the Espana keeper's head, and Jason Crevar tapped the ball into the vacated net for the 3-0 final.

No official statistics were kept for shots on goal, but I would estimate it at about 10-4 Firebirds.