With the Providence Park set to a fever pitch, the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders got underway with fireworks early on. In the third minute, the Sounders whipped in a corner kick that Jalil Anibaba volleyed towards the back post. Seattle forward Kenny Cooper lurked back post and poked it in to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.
But this is a Cascadia Cup rivalry match and things weren't going to stay much quieter. Timbers midfielder Diego Chara found himself with room to roam near the middle of the pitch. He carried to the top of the eighteen before firing a low skipping shot past Seattle 'keeper Stefan Frei to draw the Timbers even at 1-1.
Timbers goalkeeper Andrew Weber was kept busy too as Kenny Cooper tried his luck again from close in. This time, Weber made a diving stop to deny the ex-Timbers striker in the 11th minute.
With the breakneck pace continuing, the Timbers came flying down the right wing with Darlington Nagbe on the attack in the 14th minute. He layed it off to Michael Harrington on the wing who then nutmegged a Seattle defender for Diego Valeri. Valeri took a touch, spun on his defender and shot into the top netting to make it 2-1 Timbers.
Seattle kept busy though. Sounders captain Clint Dempsey carried in close on the left to even the score 2-2.
The second half did not let up in the excitment department. Birthday boy Diego Chara found himself in the middle again with space in the 56th minute and again had a blast from distance--this one even more prettier than the last. Timbers lead 3-2.
Portland's Maximiliano Urruti got into the act just a minute later. Urruti came in on the left, cut back and curled a gorgeous shot to the right that found the upper 90 and gave the Timbers a 4-2 lead.
Seattle clawed back late. With quick passing from the right side, Dempsey found himself with the ball in the middle to score in the 86th minute.
A minute later, Portland's Ben Zemanski collided with Seattle defender DeAndre Yedlin just inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. Clint Dempsey lined up the shot and converted to make it 4-4.
