Neither team would play many of their "First Team" players, with Necaxa playing in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday, and the Timbers having two games in three days starting on Friday. And the first half was pretty quiet, with Necaxa seeming to adjust to the turf, while the Timbers, with only three of their eleven starters having started previously this season (Josh Wicks, Cameron Knowles, and Shaun Higgins) also took awhile to find their form.

The Timbers controlled the ball for most of the early minutes of the match, and the first good scoring chance for either team would be in the 13th minute when Kiki Lara made a good run down the left side and into the Necaxa box and put a low pass across the goalmouth that forward Jaime Ambriz stretched for but missed, and midfielder Bryan Jordan trapped on his feet, but his shot from only five yards out was over the bar.

The Timbers also had a good chance in the 38th minute when a corner kick by Lara found new Timber Justin Thompson about eight yards out, but his header was just past the left post.

Only three minutes later, Club Necaxa nearly took the lead when midfielder Raul Ybarra had an open look from about 20 yards out, and his low blast hit the left post and rebounded wide, and the half would end scoreless.

It didn't take long for the Timbers to find the next in the second half when in the first minute of the half, Jordan started a run near midfield and played a perfect give-and-go with Lara, and shot low into the left side of the net past Necaxa goalkeeper Joel Barba to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead.

The quick Timbers goal opened up what had been a pretty tight match to that point, and in the 58th minute Necaxa nearly found the equalizer when they broke through on a 3-on-1 breakaway, but Hector Quintanar's shot was blocked by a charging Josh Wicks and cleared. In the 76th minute, the visitors had another good chance when Oscar Gonzalez had an open look from near the top of the box, but his shot was well over the bar.

One minute later, the Timbers had another good chance with Jordan's dipping shot from 20 yards out ending up going right into Barba's hands.

In the 82nd minute, Necaxa had another great chance to draw level when Jonathan Rosas had a nice cutback near the top of the box to give him an open shot, but his shot was also right into the opposing keeper's hands for an easy save.

Less than a minute later, the Timbers came within inches of doubling their lead when David Hague's tight angle shot from 10 yards out dipped sharply and hit off the crossbar before going over the endline and out of play. The Timbers would have the last good scoring chance of the match as Ambriz's shot in the 87th minute from 10 yards out was saved nicely by Necaxa goalkeeper Pablo Gonzalez, but the one Timbers goal was enough as they held on for the 1-0 victory.

Josh Wicks had four saves for the Timbers in the winning effort, while Joel Barba recorded one save, and substitute keeper Pablo Gonzalez had two saves in the losing effort.