For the first ten minutes, each team would have a few good opportunities pushing the ball into the opposing box, but neither team could manage a good shot on goal.

Then, in the 10th minute, a Timbers free kick by Andrew Gregor from just outside the box ended up on the foot of defender Cameron Knowles, whose first shot was saved by California goalkeeper Eric Reed, but Bryan Jordan retrieved the free ball and crossed to Scot Thompson, who trapped the ball, then perfectly placed a soft shot inside the far post, and the Timbers had an early 1-0 lead.

The Victory had a good chance on a corner kick a few minutes later, but Timbers goalkeeper Josh Wicks punched the ball over the bar, and the Timbers were able to clear the ensuing corner kick.

In the 14th minute, the Timbers had another good chance when a cross from Troy Ready found forward Chris Bagley open at the far post, but his header was just wide to the right.

Eight minutes later, the center referee would call play on when a ball into the Victory box appeared to be handled by California defender Ryan Suarez, and seconds later, the Timbers thought they had widened the lead to 2-0 when a header by Bagley off a Scot Thompson throw-in was headed home by Ready, but the center referee called a foul on Bagley on the play, and the goal was disallowed.

In the 24th minute, the Timbers had another free kick just outside the California box, and this time Gregor would take the shot on goal directly through the wall, but Reed scrambled slightly to his left and smothered the shot. Six minutes later, the Timbers would have another good chance when a Gregor corner kick fell to the feet of Justin Thompson, who had to side-volley the ball and put it his shot a few feet over the crossbar.

In the 35th minute, the Victory would have one of their rare looks at goal, when a hard shot from Ricardo Sanchez was just high and wide, and hit off the new PGE Park scoreboard. Five minutes later, the Timbers would get another good chance when Ready’s shot from the top of the box was just over the bar.

Near the end of the first half, the Timbers had once good last chance when Bagley made a run into the box, but this shot was blocked off his feet by a sliding Suarez. Just before the halftime whistle, the Victory looked to have a great chance when a cross from Suarez found Chuck Kim open at the left side of the box, but he managed to trip himself on the PGE Park NexTurf and flubbed the shot over the endline, and the Timbers would hold a 1-0 lead at the half.

Early in the second half, the Victory had one of their best chances of the match when a chest pass from Scot Thompson back to Wicks was nearly collected by Kim, but Wicks managed to get to the ball a split second before the Victory midfielder to end the threat.

In the 50th minute, Jordan would lead a 2 man breakaway, with Bagley wide open to his left, but Jordan would get the ball caught in his feet as he never attempted to drop the pass to the wide-open Bagley, and California defender Ricky Herron recovered and knocked Jordan down with a shoulder barge as he also knocked the ball off his feet to end the threat.

In the 55th minute, a steal near midfield by Scot Thompson started a Timbers rush at goal, with Jordan hitting Gregor on the right side, who left-footed a cross to Bagley at the far post. Bagley’s diving header was saved by Reed, but Jordan had continued his run and was on the doorstep, and knocked the loose ball into the net, and the Timbers had widened their lead to 2-0.

In the 60th minute, the Timbers had another good opportunity when a long cross from Luke Kreamalmeyer found Lawrence Olum wide open attacking the far post, but his shot was stopped by a fine point-blank save by Reed. Minutes later, Gregor played Kreamalmeyer through on a nice pass, but instead of passing to Ready or Gregor ,who were wide open, he attempted the shot himself which was just past the post.

In the 77th minute, the Victory comeback bid became that much tougher when Herron, already carrying a yellow, grabbed the jersey of Timbers midfielder Neil Dombrowski after the Timbers substitute had stolen the ball from him, and the referee was right there to show him the second yellow, then the red, and the visitors would play the rest of the match down a player. A few minutes later, Kreamalmeyer had a nice run into the box off a Gregor pass, but took the ball too deep into the box before being shouldered off the ball by a California defender.

Just before the closing whistle, Tom Poltl hit a nice dipping shot from 25 yards out that was pretty easily saved by Reed.

The Timbers were content to play ball control for much the last few minutes, and would hold on for the 2-0 win, their second straight shutout, and a record of 3 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw heading into their Sunday match against the other expansion team, the Carolina RailHawks.

Josh Wicks was credited with one save in the winning effort as he earned the shutout, and Eric Reed had six saves in the losing effort.