Having suffered from a severe lack of shots on goal over the past few months, Timbers fans were happy to see the home team attacking early, when Byron Alvarez hit a hard shot from 20 yards out in the 2nd minute that would have been dangerous had it not been right into Mariners goalkeeper Matt Nelson's chest. Alvarez would be a pest for the Mariners defense for much of the first half, getting another good chance ten minutes later, his shot deflecting off a Mariners defender before being collected by Nelson.

During the next few minutes, recent Timbers acquisition Mike Chabala would get a cut to the forehead on an inadvertent elbow from Greg Simmonds, and would play the rest of the match with a wide bandage around his head.

In the 20th minute, the Timbers seemed to miss on a situation where it would have been easier to score than to not score, when Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar was able to free the ball from a scramble near the post, and tapped a shot across the box to a charging Tom Poltl, who with half of the net wide-open to him from six yards out, managed to blast the ball wide left.

Virginia Beach was back on their heels for the first 25 minutes, but finally got a look at the Timbers net in the 27th minute when Craig Demmin headed over the Timbers bar from 15 yards out, which would be their only shot on goal in the first half.

Three minutes later, the Timbers would miss another close chance when Alcaraz-Cuellar's free kick from 20 yards out slipped a yard past the left post.

In the last few minutes of the first half, there were some nervous moments for the visitors when twice there were loose balls bouncing around near the top of the Mariners box, forcing Nelson off his line to try to knock the ball out of danger, but fortunately for the Mariners, the Timbers were not able to put a shot on net.

Just before the half ended, the Timbers had one last chance to take the lead when a cross from Alcaraz-Cuellar found Alvarez open for a header attempt from 15 yards out, but Nelson was able to retreat back to his line to collect the header before it crossed the line, and at the half, the match was scoreless.

It would not take long for the Timbers to take the lead in the second half, when after a long free kick from Timbers goalkeeper Bayard Elfvin, Timbers midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer lost the ball on a bad first touch, but then promptly turned around and stole the ball from Demmin as he had his own bad first touch, then dribbled once, and blasted a shot from 22 yards out off the right post and into the net past a diving Nelson, and the Timbers had taken a 1-0 lead.

Two minutes later, Alcaraz-Cuellar had an open look for the Timbers, but his low shot from near the top of the box was smothered by Nelson.

Between the 59th and 65th minutes the Mariners had a few dangerous chances, first on a ball bouncing through the Timbers crease with no Mariners there to put it in, and then an open look by Tim O'Neill, who was not able to put a shot on net. Shortly afterwards, Leepaul Scroggins made a nice run deep into the Timbers end, but his cut back at the top of the box allowed Timbers defender Jacobi Goodfellow to move across the block the shot right off Scroggins's foot.

In the 66th minute, the Mariners would have the first of two excellent chances to tie the match, when O'Neill had an open shot from 25 yards out that forced a diving reaction save from Elfvin to knock the ball wide and over the endline.

Eight minutes later, Elfvin would be called on again to protect the slim Timbers lead when an attempted Timbers clearance fell right to the foot of Pato Aguilera, who hit a wicked diving volley from 30 yards out that forced another diving reaction save from Elfvin, with the ball rebounding off the crossbar after the save, right into the run of a charging John Barry Nusum. But Elfvin was able to recover just it time to punch the ball out of the way just before Nusum had a chance to blast the ball into the open net, and Mike Randolph finally cleared the ball over the touchline to end the Mariners threat.

The Timbers nearly doubled their lead in the 77th minute when Poltl, acting as team captain for the first time in his Timbers career, hit a shot from 25 yards out towards the upper corner that forced Nelson to tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner.

The Timbers were able to keep control of the ball for most of the later minutes of the match, with Alvarez and Yuri Morales doing well in taking the ball to the corner to kill the clock, and the Timbers managed to hold on for a 1-0 win, their first league win since June 15, and breaking an eleven match winless streak, the longest in Timbers history.

Those two spectacular saves for Bayard Elfvin were the only two saves he recorded on this night, white Matt Nelson was credited with seven for the Mariners.