From the start, it was clear the same style of play that had dominated the first two games between these two teams was going to be the order of the day. A lot of pushing, pulling, shoving, and aggressive plays for 50-50 balls were taking place, mostly in midfield, throughout the match. The first shot on goal was in the 8th minute, when Portland's Scott Benedetti had a good look at goal from near the top of the box, but his shot was wide right.

The Sounders first good chance at net turned out to be the break they needed to take an early lead. A cross from the left side was shot towards net by Ryan Edwards, but blocked by the Portland goakeeper Curtis Spiteri. But the rebound fell right to the feet of forward Marco Velez, who turned and buried the ball into the net from barely six yards out to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Portland's McKinley Tennyson almost got loose on a counterattack breakaway down the right side, but a Seattle defender had an angle on the Timbers striker, so Tennyson settled for a shot from 30 yards out that went well wide left. In the 23rd minute, the Sounders nearly widened the lead when a corner kick deflected towards the top right corner of the Timbers net, but was headed out by defender Nick Downing. Seven minutes later, Seattle's Andrew Gregor took a hard shot from near the top of the box that went only a few yards wide right.

In the 32nd minute, the Timbers had Tennyson attacking down the left side, and a hard shot from 20 yards out forced a reaction save by Seattle goalkeeper Rich Cullen. The ball rebounded to striker Fadi Afash, who had followed the shot into the box. Afash attempted to tap the ball wide of a charging Cullen, and Cullen and Afash collided in the box, with the Timbers forward being called for the foul, and receiving a yellow for the play.

In the 34th minute, Velez had a good shot at a header from 15 yards out, but the Seattle forward put the shot just over the bar. Six minutes later, Seattle's Alex Bengard had a good chance on a shot from left side, near the top of the box, but his shot was well wide to the left. The last good chance of the half for either team was Seattle's Jason Farrell, who made a diagonal run into the Timbers box, but his shot from 10 yards out was parried over the ball by Spiteri, and the half ended with the Sounders up 1-0.

The Sounders continued to control much of the play during the first part of the second half. Viet Nguyen and Gregor both had good chances in the first seven minutes of the second half, but neither could put the shot on net. Each team then had a sequence when they were able to get crosses to bounce down into the box, but neither team could get a shot on net from the sequence. Seattle's Kyle Smith put the first shot on net in the second half in the 65th minute, but Spiteri once again saved the ball over the bar.

The Timbers had their first good chance of the second half when a through ball from Jason Melendez to Tennyson had the Portland striker in a good position, having beaten an offside trap. But his first touch failed him, and the ball trickled to the Seattle goalkeeper for an easy save. The Sounders were failed by another bad first touch themselves three minutes later, when a through ball from Gregor to Nguyen failed when Nguyen was unable to control the pass.

In the 78th minute, the Sounders appeared ready to double their lead when Gregor ran onto a through ball behind the Timbers defense and pushed forward to get to the ball before the charging Timbers keeper. But Spiteri got to the ball just before Gregor, and his slide clearance played the ball harmlessly upfield. By the 80th minute, the Timbers were finally starting to find their offense, and a dangerous cross from Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar to Tennyson was stopped when Cullen and Tennyson reached the ball at the same time in the goal mouth, with Cullen controlling the ball, and Tennyson being called for the foul as the players came together.

The Sounders had their final shot on goal in the 84th minute when Farrell's shot from 25 yards out forced a diving save by Spiteri to keep the game close. The Timbers were pushing more numbers forward now in an attempt to get the equalizer, and a cross from Aaron Heinzen found the head of Tennyson, but his shot was over the Sounders net.

In stoppage time, the Timbers had two of their best scoring chances of the entire match. An Alcaraz cross to Tennyson appeared to be cleared by a Seattle defender's arm above his head, but play continued and the Timbers were awarded a corner on the play. Just before the final whistle, a free kick from 25 yards out was shot through the wall by Tennyson, but the ball deflected right to the feet of Timbers defender Gavin Wilkinson, who had come into the box for the free kick. But the ball was moving too quickly and had too much spin, and it harmlessly rebounded off Wilkinson's feet and was easily collected by Cullen. After two minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle, and for the third time in three tries this season, the Sounders had shut out the Timbers, and the second time the final had been 1-0.