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Shea's first goal of season comes at right time—84th minute—as Whitecaps down Rapids

It was a night of firsts for the Vancouver Whitecaps—and all of the positive variety. Namely, Brek Shea's first goal of the season, which propelled the Whitecaps to their first win in Colorado since 2012.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) Brek Shea scored his first goal of the season in the 84th minute and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Friday night.

Vancouver (4-4-1) won in Colorado for the first time since 2012 for its second straight road victory. Colorado (1-6-1) had its losing streak extended to five games, and its overall winless stretch reached seven matches.

Shea entered as a substitute in the 69th minute. Fellow sub Nicolas Mezquida played a nice through ball to start a breakaway and Shea raced down the left side to roll a shot past goalkeeper Tim Howard from the corner of the penalty area.

Howard played for the first time since serving a three-game suspension. He didn't get much help up front as Colorado's first shot on goal came in the 59th minute on Shkelzen Gashi's non-threatening shot from distance.

Vancouver nearly had an own goal in the 55th minute. Defender Jordan Harvey poked a loose toward his own goal and it hit the post, but David Ousted batted it away on the goal line.