The Firebirds held leads of 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2 in their match against the Cascade Surge, but just as the 'Birds appeared ready to take a 5-2 lead, a non-call in front of the goal, and the subsequent counterattack suddenly made it 4-3, and the Firebirds were never able to recover, and lost the momentum, then the match. The match was played in front of a good crowd on a cool night in Corvallis.

From the opening whistle, the Firebirds came out firing, and it didn't take long to find the net. Just three minutes into the match, midfielder Jack Wheeler made a run down the right side, and his curling cross found the head of forward Peter Gail, who headed it down and past Surge goalkeeper Richard Goddard. The Surge defense attempted to clear the ball off the line after it had found its way under the keeper, but the ball had crossed the line, and the Firebirds had a 1-0 lead.

In the 10th minute, the Firebirds appeared ready to score again when forward Jason Crevar got in behind the Surge defense for a breakaway, but he never seemed to get good control of the ball, and his shot beat Goddard, but went just barely right. In the 17th minute, the Firebirds did find the net again after Demitrio Sanchez played a pass from near midfield to midfielder Nick Jensen, who was making a run down the left side. Jensen's low shot went between the Surge keepers legs and into the net to put the Firebirds up 2-0.

In the 26th minute, the Surge got one back on a crazy play inside the Firebirds box. After a cross from the right side, Jason Aldous attempted a shot from about 10 yards out, but totally mishit the ball and it only went a few yards. Surge midfielder Matt Olson and a Firebirds defender both got to the ball at the same time and seemed to hit it simultaneously, but the ricochet ended up going into the roof of the net past Firebirds goalkeeper Bryan Hill, pulling the Surge to within a goal at 2-1.

In the 40th minute, the Firebirds put another goal into the net midfielder Fred Kummernes took an innocent-looking shot from 25 yards out, that bounced once on the way to the goal, but Surge goalkeeper Goddard could not reach the ball, which went just inside the right post, and the Firebirds were once again up two goals at 3-1.

But once again the Surge answered, this time in the 42nd minute, and once again a deflected ball ended up in the right place for the Firebirds rivals from Salem. A long ball played into space was being chased by Aldous when Firebird keeper Bryan Hill charged out of the box and got to the ball just before Hopkins. But his clearing attempt richocheted off Hopkins, then back off Hill again, then right to Hopkins right foot, and he played a volley directly into the net to pull the Surge closer at 3-2.

The Firebirds didn't seem satisfied to go into halftime only up one goal, and they made it count just as the match was about to go into added time for the first half. The Firebirds took advantage of a free kick from just outside the penalty box, near the corner to the Surge keeper's right. Kummernes played a nice ball into the box off the free kick, and Goddard was only able to get a slight touch on the ball, which then went directly to Firebirds forward Jason Crevar who was near the far post, who headed in to put the Firebirds up two goals again at 4-2 heading into halftime.

As the second half began, both teams seemed to have switched to a more conservative attack, as the wide-open goalscoring of the first half changed to a more defensive posture, and neither team threatened to score until the 61st minute, when the momentum of the match suddently changed just when it appeared the Firebirds were ready to put the Surge away. After a scramble in front of the Surge net, the ball ended up directly in front of the net a mere 5 yards out, the Surge goalkeeper out of position, and forward Jason Crevar turned to put the ball into a completely empty net. As he turned, a Surge defender who attempted to swing at the ball clipped Crevar's plant leg instead, and took him down from behind before Crevar could strike the ball.

Both teams seemed to stop play as if a penalty kick was expected, and Goddard grabbed the ball and kicked it to midfield. But the referee told the players to play on, and suddenly Jim Albert found himself at midfield with the ball, and no Firebirds defenders between him and the goal. He was able to outrun the charging defense, and his low shot beat Firebirds goalkeeper Colin McMillen, who replaced Hill at halftime, and suddenly their lead was only one goal again at 4-3.

In the 85th minute, Albert found the net again after he made a run to the far post on a Surge corner kick, and after a Firebird deflected the ball slightly, it was suddenly hanging in the air right in front of him, and he was able to put good pace onto a header from 8 yards out, which beat McMillen to his left, and suddenly the match was tied at 4-4.

Momentum was now clearly with the Surge, and it didn't take long before that momentum payed off again. With only a few minutes to go in the match, after a scramble near the top of the Firebrids box, the ball was suddenly on second-half substitute Dustin Sackett's foot, and he hit a hard low shot that somehow got through the packed-in Firebirds defense, and it eluded keeper Colin McMillen and gave the Surge a 5-4 lead.

The Firebirds had one last good chance when Nick Jensen played a pass from just behind the midfield line to Jack Wheeler, who seemed to have timed his run perfectly and was just running past the last Surge defender who had stumbled when turning to play the ball, but the referee's assistant raised his flag to call Wheeler offside, and ended the Firebirds last run as they never recovered from the shift in momentum, and fell to the Surge by a final of 5-4.

Bryan Hill had five saves for the Firebirds, while Colin McMillen recorded four saves. Richard Goddard had five saves for the Surge.