The Timbers would have the first chance of the game, though it resulted in an easy save for Carolina goalkeeper Chris McClellan as a Cameron Knowles header off a Chris Brown free kick was right into the keeper’s hands. Four minutes later, Brown would have a good chance of his own when a cross from Arsene Oka was on the striker’s feet only 12 yards out from goal, but his shot was blocked by a sliding Carolina defender.

Carolina would have their first good look of the game in the 11th minute when a shot by the Railhawks' Hamed Diallo took a slight deflection on the way to the Timbers goal, but was stopped by Timbers goalkeeper Brad Knighton and cleared. Three minutes later, the visitors had a golden opportunity to take the lead when a pass was dropped to a wide-open Martin Nunez, who shot high on a sitter from 12 yards out.

Five minutes later the Timbers put many good touches together before Oka found Lawrence Olum only a few yards out from goal, but the ball was slightly behind him and his shot deflected wide, and the Timbers could not cash in on the ensuing corner kick.

In the 27th minute, the Timbers would come within inches of taking the lead when a Brown free kick from 25 yards out dipped sharply but narrowly missed the upper right corner, sending McClellan nearly crashing into the right post in the process. Seven minutes later, the visitors would let a good scoring chance slip by when Diallo found the ball deflected to his feet off a free kick, but his attempt to turn and shoot from near the penalty spot was well over the bar.

In the 40th minute, the Timbers had a great chance to steal the lead before halftime when Brown made a nice cut back to be able to make a run into the box down the left side, then crossed to Shaun Higgins, who was not able to get a shot on target, but the ball trickled back to Lawrence Olum, whose shot was a yard wide left.

Then in the 43rd minute, a confusing series of events would result in Portland’s Brown being sent off when he threw an elbow as a reaction to rough play from David Stokes, and after several Carolina players confronted referee Andres Pfefferkorn, making contact with him in the process, a red card was eventually given to Brown after the Railhawks complaints. The Railhawks players continued to complain after the card was awarded, causing McClellan to come flying to the confrontation to push one of his players off the referee. But the only card was to Brown, though the Portland crowd believed at the time that a Carolina player had been ejected for making contact with the referee, and with no indication what the Carolina players were complaining about after the red was awarded, and no cautions or ejections for confronting Pfefferkorn.

Oka and Higgins would take long range shots on the Carolina goal during stoppage time, but the half would end with the teams scoreless.

In the 50th minute, the Timbers would have a great scoring chance when a cross from Leonard Griffin found the head of Olum as he rose high above the Carolina defense, but his header from six yards out was smothered by McClellan. Carolina nearly responded only seconds later after former Timber Dan Antoniuk’s shot was blocked, but fell to Stokes, who probably had more time than he thought, and his rushed shot was well over the crossbar.

In the 52nd minute, Carolina had another great chance when Nunez had an open look from 18 yards out, but his shot did not have enough on it, and was smothered by Knighton. Five minutes later, a nice series of passes from Diallo, to Kupono Low, then to Antoniuk had the Carolina striker open 15 yards out, but his shot was over the bar. In the 64th minute the visitors had another great chance, with Santiago Fusiller finding the ball on his feet after a nice series of passes, but his tight angle shot from close in was weak and easily smothered by Knighton.

Two minutes later, a very nice long through pass from Griffin found Higgins at the top of the Carolina box, but he could not get the ball off his feet quickly enough to get a shot on goal, and the chance was lost. One minute later, Carolina had their best chance of the half when a flick on from Antoniuk had Diallo running into the Timbers box, but only resulted in a weak shot right at Knighton. A minute later, the visitors had another great chance when Matthew Watson was able to weave around the Timbers defense and into the box, and when the ball was finally blocked off his feet, it fell right to Antoniuk, whose low blast from 15 yards out was stopped by Knighton.

The Timbers would have a very nice counterattack in the 69th minute when a clearance from Scot Thompson was into the run of Olum, who dropped a pass to Tom Poltl, but his open shot from 20 yards out did not have anything on it and was easily saved.

In the 78th minute, after enjoying a man advantage for 36 minutes, Carolina would lose that advantage when Stokes, who had been involved in the confrontation with Brown earlier in the game that resulted in the Timbers going down a player, earned a red card himself when he got a second yellow for holding former Railhawk Jamil Walker, so the rest of the match would be 10 v 10.

Seconds later, the Timbers had several good chances inside the Carolina box, with a header by Griffin needing to be headed back out by a Carolina defender. Then in the 84th minute, the Timbers had a golden opportunity to steal the match when a cross from Scot Thompson was trapped perfectly by Higgins, but his attempt to turn from 10 yards out was saved by a diving save by McClellan. The Timbers were now controlling much of the run of play, and would produce many crosses in the box in the final minutes of the match, but would only result in one more good shot on goal, a blast from 20 yards out by Poltl in stoppage time that was over the crossbar, and the Timbers would have to settle for a 0-0 draw, and extend their record home winless streak to seven matches, going back to a 2-0 win over Seattle on April 26.

Brad Knighton had five saves for the Timbers, while Chris McClellan had six saves for Carolina.