Most of the scoring chances on the night would be for the home Timbers, and their first good chances would be in the seventh minute, when Matt Taylor would have a good look near the top of the Thunder box, with his shot being deflected wide by a Thunder defender, but the fall right into the run of defender Scot Thompson, who crossed to Lawrence Olum near the far post, but he could put the shot on net.

A few seconds later, Luke Kreamalmeyer would give the Timbers another good chance when he had a look from near the corner of the Thunder box, but his shot was over the bar.

The next good chance for either team would be in the 22nd minute, when the Timbers had a free kick from just outside the Thunder box, but the shot by Taylor was just past the left post. Seven minutes later, another good chance went begging when a nice ball from Tom Poltl found the head of Olum, wide open only seven yards out, but Olum’s header was just over the bar.

The best scoring chance of the first half for the Timbers would be in the 36th minute, when a free kick from near the corner of the Thunder box by Kreamalmeyer was headed towards net by Justin Thompson, and tipped slightly by Thunder goalkeeper Nick Platter, and off the crossbar, before being cleared by the Thunder defense. It would be the last good scoring chance of the half, and it would be 0-0 at the break.

The Thunder finally did see a dangerous ball into the Timbers box in the opening seconds of the second half, but just over the head of Thunder striker Darren Spicer. The Thunder had another good chance in the 53rd minute when Freddy Juarez had an open look from near the top of the box, but hit his shot very high over the crossbar.

In the 63rd minute, a Timbers free kick by Kreamalmeyer rebounded out to a wide open Shaun Higgins, but his full volley from 25 yards out was well wide to the right.

Starting in the 79th minute, the Timbers finally started pushing more players forward and started producing more chances, and it was started by a 30 yard blast by Olum that was headed for the bottom right corner of the net, but was stopped by a diving save by Platter, who barely covered the rebound before a charging Kreamalmeyer had a chance to get the rebound.

For the next few minutes, the Thunder would have some of their best possession of the match, and a deep run into the box by Alexander Gotsmanov was only stopped by a nice block by Timbers defender Cameron Knowles.

The Timbers would respond with their own good chance, with a cross into the box finding David Hague open near the spot, but couldn’t turn on the ball fast enough and had to retreat, but then dropped a pass to Leonard Griffin, whose cross found Olum open about 10 yards out, but his header was right at Platter and easily saved.

Just seconds later the Timbers looked certain to score when a chip into the box by Hague was headed by Scot Thompson to a wide-open Justin Thompson running towards the far post only a few yards out, but he bobbled the open shot, then an open rebound shot by Knowles was also mis-hit, and two golden opportunities just yards out could not be put on net, and the ball was cleared.

In the 89th minute, Portland’s Hague earned a corner after being double teamed near the touchline, and his corner was headed just over the bar by Knowles from close-in.

Four minutes of stoppage time seemed to come out of nowhere, but the Timbers fans would take it as the Timbers had almost all of the possession, drawing two later corner kicks that the Timbers could not get on net, and the match would finish as a scoreless draw.

The 8,290 fans were the largest Timbers home crowd for a USL match since they drew 8,292 on August 20, 2005, also seeing a draw, 1-1 against Seattle that night. It was also the eleventh shutout for the Timbers this season, and the Timbers remain undefeated at home in 2007 in all matches, league or exhibition with 10 wins, 0 losses, 5 draws.

Josh Wicks was not credited with any saves in earning the shutout, while Nick Platter recorded five saves for the Thunder, also earning a shutout.

Following the match, on the PGE Park pitch, Thunder midfielder Brian Farber proposed to his girlfriend Kristy (who lives in Portland), and SoccerCityUSA.com reports that Kristy said yes! Congratulations from all Timbers fans to Brian and Kristy, and thanks to the contingent of Thunder fans who made the trip from Minnesota for the match, the largest visiting group the Timbers have seen for a USL match this season.