It was the Timbers who had the early chances, with a few dangerous crosses in the first few minutes, with their best chance being a cross from Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar in the 5th minute, that was headed towards net by Byron Alvarez, and only kept out of the net by a tip save over the bar by Thunder goalkeeper Joe Warren. In the eighth minute, the Thunder had their first good chance, when a Thunder free kick bounced dangerously through the Timbers box, out of the reach of any Thunder attackers.

But in the 11th minute, the Thunder made their first shot on goal count, when a cross from Jay Alberts found forward Melvin Tarley in the Timbers box, and the Thunder striker put the shot just inside the right post to put Minnesota up 1-0.

But the Thunder lead would not last long. Just three minutes later, a low chip into the box from Portland's Edwin Miranda may have been too low for forward Scott Benedetti, but he slid to the ground while getting a foot on the ball and knocked it past Warren and into the left side of the Thunder net, and the score was level at 1-1.

But less than a minute later, the Timbers surged ahead when a loose ball in the box was played by Miranda to the foot of Scot Thompson, who blasted a shot from close range past Warren, with Thompson staring down Warren for several seconds afterwards as the game become more intense, and the Timbers had gone from one goal to one goal ahead in less than a minute, and held a 2-1 lead.

The next good scoring opportunity for either team came in the 29th minute, and it was the Timbers who had the good scoring chance, when a low free kick from 30 yards out by Miranda was tipped just wide of the left post by a diving Warren. Six minutes later, the Thunder had a good chance of their own when Minnesota's Alejandro Diaz and Portland's Gavin Wilkinson battled over a free ball inside the Timbers box after a free kick, with Diaz getting a good look but Wilkinson blocked the ball right off his foot as he let the shot go from 15 yards out. Over the next few minutes, the Thunder had several dangerous crosses into the box, with the best chance being in the 39th minute when a cross to the post was trapped by Minnesota's Kiki Lara, who had an open chance from only a few yards out, but Portland goalkeeper Josh Saunders charged off the line and blocked the shot right off Lara's foot with his leg, and the great scoring chance went unfulfilled. The half ended with the Timbers holding a 2-1 lead.

The Timbers came out looking for a third goal, and had two good early chances, on a breakaway by Alvarez in the 51st minute that the Timbers striker put just wide to the right from 15 yards out as the Thunder defense closed to cut off the angle, and one minute later when a cross from the left side by Aaron Heinzen was cleared just before it got to the foot of a charging Alvarez.

In the 54th minute, the visiting Thunder made their task all the more difficult when forward Melvin Tarley was sent off with a straight red, presumably for something he said to the referee as there seemed to be no physical play associated with the red. Two minutes later, the Timbers nearly used the one-man advantage to widen their lead, when a through ball from Tom Poltl had Heinzen making a breakaway on an angle from the left, but his shot from 15 yards out was wide to the left and harmlessly into the side netting. One minute later, a cross from Alcaraz-Cuellar found Thompson open in the box, but his header from close range was tipped just over the bar by Warren.

The Thunder still had attacking on their mind, even down a man, and in the 66th minute it nearly paid off when a long diagonal ball from Kevin Friedland into the path of Albert just eluded the Thunder striker as he changed into the Timbers box.

In the 71st minute, the Timbers thought they had their security goal when a free kick from near the sideline by Alcaraz-Cuellar was met by a header from only a few yards out by Wilkinson, which was saved off the chest by Warren, who while tumbling back had to make a second save with his hand as the ball seemed destined to cross the line, but the ball stayed out of the goal, being cleared over the endline by a Thunder defender.

In the 79th minute, the Thunder got the equalizer they had been looking for, when after the Timbers lost the ball at midfield, a sharp pass from Jeff Matteo had Menyongar moving diagonally into the box marked only by a single Timbers defender, and Menyongar hit a perfect blast into the upper left corner from just inside the top of the box, and suddenly the score was level at 2-2.

Though each team had a few late corner kicks, neither team threatened again and each team had to be satisfied with the point, in a hard fought 2-2 result.

Josh Saunders recorded one save for the Timbers, while Joe Warren recorded two for the Thunder. The Timbers are now undefeated in their last twelve regular season games, and have gone five straight against the Thunder without a loss.