In the first minute of the match, a mistake by Timbers goalkeeper Brad Knighton nearly gave the visitors an early goal when he came out of his box to clear a ball but cleared it right to a Charleston player, but was able to recover quickly enough to stop the scoring chance.

Charleston would have the first good look at goal in the 5th minute off a corner kick, when the ball was played back into the box, and Battery defender Kevin Nylen turned and shot but put the ball well right.

In the 12th minute, the home side would find the net on their first serious attack of the game, as a chipped ball from midfield by Tom Poltl was into the run of Byron Alvarez, who chipped past charging Charleston goalkeeper Keith Wiggins and hit the right post, but Timbers forward Bryan Jordan was trailing the play, and headed into the rebound to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead.

The Battery nearly responded a minute later when a cross found the head of Lazo Alavanja open in front of the Timbers net, but his header was a yard over the bar. A minute later, the Timbers nearly took a 2-0 lead when a bad Battery clearance was put back onto the run of Alvarez, whose tight-angle shot from 10 yards out was smothered by Wiggans.

The game was now a wide-open end-to-end affair and the Battery came close to leveling the match in the 16th minute when a nice pass from Alavanja played Dominic Cianciarulo through, but his open shot was saved by Knighton. Off the ensuing corner kick, Lou Rolko hit a hard low shot but Knigton smothered the ball easily. It would be the last shot on goal for Charleston until midway through the second half.

The next scoring chance for either team would be in the 25th minute when Poltl had an open look from 20 yards out, but put the hard low shot a few yards wide left. The Timbers continued to control much of the run of play, and had another great scoring chance three minutes later when a deep cross from Bryan Little found the head of Miguel Guante as he charged to the far post, but his header was stopped on the line by Wiggans.

In the 34th minute, Wiggans was forced to make a good save on a dipping blast from 25 yards out by Little to keep the Battery only down by a goal.

The Timbers continued to control much of the possession, with new signee defender Cameron Dunn making several good plays in back to keep Charleston from getting any more shots on goal, but the timbers would only get one more good scoring chance before halftime, this in the 42nd minute when Lawrence Olum made a nice turn in the box, and his shot was only kept out by a nice diving save by Wiggans, and the half ended with the Timbers holding a 1-0 lead.

In the first minute of the second half, the Timbers would stop their own dangerous scoring chance when Jordan and Alvarez collided going after a free ball into the Battery box, effectively ending their own threat. In the 52nd minute, the Timbers would come within inches of widening the lead as Alvarez made a nice run down the left side, getting the end of a series of passes from Olum, to Little, to Jordan, then into the run of Alvarez, and chipped past a charging Wiggans, but missed the right post by a yard.

Five minutes later, Alvarez had another dangerous scoring opportunity as Jordan played a through ball into his run, but his shot from the top of the box didn’t have enough pace as he was attempting to fight off a Charleston defender, and the shot was easily saved.

In the 61st minute, a long ball from Leonard Griffin into the run of Jordan nearly resulted in a Timbers goal as he turned and crossed to the far post, just past the run of Guante. Three minutes later Guante had a good chance of his own has he made a steal and had a deep run into the Charleston box, but his shot was parried away by Wiggans from close in.

But after not having a sniff of the Timbers goal since early in the first half, it only took one scoring opportunity for the visitors to turn into a goal in the 69th minute when a corner kick was headed back to the top of the box, and Alevanja’s low shot from the top of the box deflected off two Timbers defenders on the way to goal, but was enough to deflect it past Knighton, and with only their fourth shot of the night, the Battery had leveled the match at 1-1.

The Timbers seemed stunned that the match was level, and their lack of focus nearly cost them another goal as the Battery would get another chance in the 74th minute as a giveaway near midfield nearly resulted in a Battery goal, but Knighton was able to snatch the ball just ahead of Battery forward Aaron King.

Though the Timbers controlled possession for much of the rest of the match, the Battery were now packed in protecting the draw. The home side did have a good chance in the 84th minute when Arsene Oka made a diagonal run into the box and his attempted cross was deflected but snared by Wiggans, who got the to ball at the same time as a charging Jordan and took a hard hit from the Timbers forward.

The Timbers would have several good late looks on corners and crosses, but were not able to put another shot on net, and the final would be a disappointing 1-1 draw.

Keith Wiggans recorded ten saves on the night for the Battery, while Brad Knighton has two saves for the Timbers.