After the first few minutes when each team was feeling out the other, the Timbers thought they had taken a lead in the seventh minute on a header off a free kick, but the goal was disallowed for a push in the box. Seven minutes later, the Timbers had another good chance when a flick on by Alan Gordon was put just wide left by Byron Alvarez. Three minutes later, Alvarez had another good chance of a header off an Aaron Heinzen cross, but his header also went just to the left.

In the eighteenth minute, Alvarez had another good opportunity when he turned on a shot from 10 yards out, but Edmonton goalkeeper Jose Luis Campi made a nice reaction save on the shot, the only save he would record the entire night. The rebound was free and Gordon attempted to toe poke the ball, but the shot was blocked wide.

In the 22nd minute, the visiting Aviators would get their best scoring opportunity of the first half when Chris Lemire made a run down the right side and had a good shot at goal, but his shot towards the lower right corner of the net was smothered by Portland goalkeeper Josh Saunders, the only save Saunders would need to make in the first half.

In the 25th minute, Gordon had a good chance to turn on a ball at the top of the box, with Edmonton defender Jaime Lopresti literally hanging off his shoulder, hit his shot just over the bar. Two minutes later, the Timbers finally got on the board when a pass from Brian Winters found Alvarez in the box, and his shot would hit the left post, then rebound back out, but Edmonton's Chris Devlin knocked the ball into the net, a goal that is officially being credited to Alvarez, but was probably an own goal.

The Timbers had a few good chances over the next twenty minutes, but forced no saves from the Edmonton keeper, but just before halftime, the Timbers broke though for two quick goals. In the 44th minute, Alvarez beat an offside trap and suddenly he and Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar were in behind the Aviators defense, and Alvarez chipped a pass into the box to a trailing Alcaraz-Cuellar just before Campi was able to get to the ball, and being onside since he was trailing the play, Alcaraz-Cuellar tapped the ball into the completely empty net to put the Timbers up 2-0.

In stoppage time, Alvarez was once again in a dangerous position, this time controlling the ball near the top of the box with his chest, and the Timbers forward tapped a perfect pass to a charging Gordon, who blasted a shot into the top right corner from the top of the box, his league-leading 10th goal, to give the Timbers a 3-0 halftime lead.

The Timbers were in complete control of the game by this point, and were keeping control of the ball pretty much at will. In the 60th minute, the Timbers put another ball into the back of the net when Alex Bengard stole the ball inside the center circle, then made a run to about 30 yards from goal, where his chip into the box was headed into the top left corner by second-half substitute Dan Antoniuk, to put the Timbers up 4-0.

Less than a minute later, the Timbers were on the board again, when Alvarez intercepted a pass near midfield, then made a 50 yard run almost uncontested, and buried a shot inside the near post to give the Timbers their fifth goal of the evening.

In the 62nd minute, the Timbers had another great chance when Winters was able to make an uncontested run into the box, but his shot from nearly the same spot as Alvarez's goal was just wide to the right. In the 71st minute, Alvarez managed to avoid two defenders on a 1 on 3 situation, but his shot was just wide to the right.

In the 73rd minute, Alvarez completed his hat trick when he took a pass from Heinzen and dribbled to the top of the box, then unleasheded a rocket to the keeper's right to put the Timbers up 6-0, the first time they had scored six goals since a 6-1 victory over El Paso on August 13, 2002.

In the 77th minute, the Aviators had their second shot on goal when Paul Dhaliwal turned on a shot near the edge of the box, but his dipping shot was right into the hands of Saunders. In the 83rd minute, the Timbers nearly got a seventh goal when Campi nearly punched a Jake Sagare cross into his own net. In the 84th minute, the Alvarez nearly had his fourth when he slipped a shot wide on yet another breakaway.

In the 88th minute, the Edmonton came closest to scoring when a free kick from Nikola Vignjevic hit off the crossbar, but the shot rebounded up and out of bounds so there was no chance for a rebound. A late Timbers free kick went a yard left off Bengard's foot in stoppage time, but the Timbers had done enough damage already, and end up with a 6-0 shutout of the expansion Aviators.