Early in the match it was the home side with the momentum, with a few good crosses going dangerously into the Mariners box in the first few minutes. But the first Timbers goal would come from the spot, after an attempted cross was handled by Mariners midfielder Tim O'Neill in the box, and Byron Alvarez would bury the penalty kick (the first of the year for the Timbers) to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

The Mariners then had a few good chances of their own, in the 9th and 11th minutes when David Castellanos slipped in behind his defender but his shot from near the top of the box was wide to the right. His second opportunity was also from near the top of the box, this one being tipped just wide to the right by Timbers goalkeeper Josh Saunders.

Virginia Beach's John-Barry Nusum had a good chance in the 21st minute blocked off his foot by Timbers defender Scot Thompson, and then 10 minutes later, defender Gavin Wilkinson would do the same on a shot by Castellanos. But the first really good goal scoring opportunity for the Mariners would come in the 43rd minute, when defender Kevin Knott charged onto a free ball and hit a blast from 20 yards out that was snared just under the bar by Saunders.

The Timbers nearly widened their lead to two goals just seconds later when a ball from Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar had Alvarez in alone against Mariners goalkeeper Matt Nelson, but Alvarez's attempt to chip Nelson at he entered the box was snared easily by the Mariners keeper. Two minutes later, a hard low shot by Portland's Edwin Miranda slipped just a yard or so past the right post.

The Mariners had one last good opporunity in first half stoppage time when a free ball fell to the foot of Darren Caskey as he charged into the box at an angle from the keeper's left, but hit his shot wide of the right post and into the side netting, and the half would finish with the Timbers up 1-0.

The Mariners had a good early opportunity in the second half, but a header off a corner kick was just wide left. A minute later the Timbers had their own good chance wen Alvarez was open at the top of the box, but his shot was just wide to the left as well. But the Timbers seemed happy to continue to let the Mariners shoot from outside the box in the second half, and looking for a counter-attack when the Mariners pushed forward up the center of the pitch. It didn't take long for this strategy to pay off when on an overlapping run down the right side, Timbers defender Shawn Saunders got wide of the Mariners defense then chipped a pass into the run of midfielder Aaran Lines, who had slipped in behind the last line of defense (kept onside only by the defender guarding Saunders) and Lines got to the ball just before Nelson, tapping the ball past the Mariners keeper then tapping into the open net to put the Timbers up 2-0.

The Mariners almost reponded immediately when after a free kick bounced around in the box, but Castellano's attempt to turn and shoot was weak and rolled easily to the Timbers keeper.

In the 58th minute, after the Timbers had pushed most of their players forward on a free kick just outside the Mariners box, the Mariners used the counter attack to get a goal of their own, when Tim O'Neill broke down the left side and crossed to Castellanos, whose header from six yards out slipped just inside the left post to pull the Mariners back to within 2-1.

Another free ball in Timbers box shortly afterwards had the Mariners threatening, but Nusum was not able to put the shot on-goal, and the shot may have been called offside anyway as the assistant referee had raised his flag.

In the 62nd minute, the Timbers had another apparent breakaway when Alcaraz-Cuellar chipped a ball into the run of Alvarez. Defender Joe Morelli retreated and though it appeared Alvarez was fouled in the box, no call was made and the dangerous scoring opportunity was over.

Each team would have their opportunities through the middle section of the second half, but the Timbers defense did well at shelding several dangerous balls out of bounds as the Mariners attacked down the flanks, and the shots they were getting were from outside the box, resulting in easy saves for Saunders, or the shots were not going on-net. The Timbers also had several chances, mostly down the right side with Alcaraz-Cuellar attacking, but the Mariners did well at making the target forwards in the box, and kept the Timbers from getting any shots on-goal.

But in the 84th minute, the Mariners would be awarded a penalty kick on a controversial call. A free ball in the Timbers box was knocked wide by a charging Darren Caskey, who collided with Shawn Saunders as he attempted to chase down the ball, but the referee ruled that Caskey had been fouled and a penalty kick was awarded. Caskey would step up and put the ball just past Saunders dive, inside the right post, to draw level at 2-2.

The Timbers would hold most of the possession for the remainder of play, getting the ball deep into the Mariners box several times, but their best chance to steal the win would come just before the final whistle, when a cross from Alcaraz-Cuellar was hit by a spectacular bicycle kick from late substitude Fadi Afash, but the shot would slip just over the bar and rest into the top of the net, and would be the final play as the game would end in a 2-2 draw.

Matt Nelson had one official save for the Mariners, while Josh Saunders had six saves for the Timbers.