Second-half substitute Christian Curiel scored twice, Forward Joey Leonetti scored once and added two assists, and Midfielder Pete Cavanaugh added a goal and an assist as John & Phil's Willamette Valley Firebirds beat the Cascade Surge 6-0. The game was played on a perfectly clear, warm Sunday in front of 125 fans at McCulloch Stadium in Salem, and was the opening of the regular season for both teams. The Firebirds had beaten the Surge 8-3 last Saturday in a US Open Cup qualifying match in Corvallis.

During the first 10 minutes of the game, the teams seemed evenly matched. Both sides tried to work the passes to the wings, but neither team was able to get a good shot on goal until the 10th minute when Joey Leonetti worked his way into the box from the left side, and pushed the ball past Surge goalkeeper Tom Pfotenhauer to put the Firebirds up 1-0. For the next fifteen minutes of play, the Surge were putting more shots on goal than the Firebirds, but were never able to get deep into the Firebirds defense to do any damage, so the majority of the shots they had for the entire game were from outside the box.

As the game progressed, the Firebirds did a better job of making through passes to breaking forwards, and this kept the Surge defenders back on their heels for the entire match. In the 24th minute, Midfielder Pete Cavanaugh set up Scott Tedder with a perfect through ball which Scott stuck solidly past the Surge keeper to put the Firebirds up 2-0 at the half. The Surge did manage to hit the crossbar once during the first half, but were not able to beat the Firebirds' defense, which only allowed the Surge attackers to make long-range attempts.

The Firebirds didn't take long to make their statement in the second half, when in the 49th minute, Joey Leonetti's perfect cross from the right side found Pete Cavanaugh, who headed it over the Surge keeper's head from 12 yards out to make the score 3-0. For the next 20 minutes of play, the Surge seemed to get a second wind, and were able to put together good passes in the midfield, but they continued to be shut down once they reached the attacking third.

In the 68th minute, the Firebirds went up 4-0 when Christian Curiel, having just come into the game one minute before, scored off an assist from JP Cappadano. A few minutes later Joey Leonetti ran under a high cross to the far post, and headed it over the Surge keeper's head to Christian Curiel, who tapped the ball into the open goal to make the score 5-0.

The Surge continued to fire on goal from outside the box, and did manage to rattle the crossbar once again in the 82nd minute, but no Cascade players were in a position to finish, and the Firebirds cleared the goal from in front of the net. A 5-0 final seemed certain until the 90th minute when Surge goalkeeper Tom Pfotenhauer was unable to control a low bouncing shot which bounced off his chest to a waiting Joe Sanders, who tapped the ball into the net for a 6-0 final.

Bryan Hills had the shutout in goal for the Firebirds, recording ten saves. Surge goalkeeper Tom Pfotenhauer had several good saves for the home team, but was constantly defending close-in shots from the Firebirds. He finished with seven saves.

Shots: Surge 17 Firebirds 19
Saves: Surge 7 Firebirds 10
Offsides: Surge 2 Firebirds 2
Corners: Surge 3 Firebirds 6
Cards: Andrade (Cascade) 60' (tackle from behind)

Starters:
Surge: Pfotenhauer, McDonald, Wheaton, Lewis (Alvarez 58), Leveine (Speten 70), Rodriguez, Wheeler (Barkes 71), Schilling, Andrade, Norris, Aldous
Firebirds: Hills, Mamula, Kummernes, Crevar (Curiel 67), Merten, Howes (Cappadino 35), Smith, Wooten, Cavanaugh, Tedder (Sanders 77), Leonetti