Shea hits winner for Vancouver in Howard's return for Colorado

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:44 am

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- 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 won in Colorado for the first time since 2012 for its second-straight road victory. Colorado had its losing streak extended to five games and an 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 effort from distance.

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