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COMMERCE CITY, COLO. (AP) -- Darren Mattocks made the most of what turned out to be Vancouver's only real scoring opportunity.

He scored in the 43rd minute and the Whitecaps beat the Colorado Rapids 1-0 Wednesday night.

"We had only the one chance near the end of the half," Whitecaps coach Martin Renne said. "And we finished it well." Mattocks scored his fourth goal of the season on a defensive breakdown and gave Vancouver (8-4-5) its third win in five games and the second-year team's first victory in Colorado.

Joe Cannon, who had 25 shutouts while playing for the Rapids, earned his seventh shutout of the season for the Whitecaps.

Colorado (7-9-1) also lost 1-0 to Vancouver on June 16. The latest loss pushed the Rapids seven points behind the third-place Whitecaps in the Western Conference.

The Rapids had two chances a minute apart as Cannon denied them both.

Conor Casey broke free along the left sideline and got off a left-footed kick from 30 yards out. Cannon got on all fours to smother the ball in the 31st minute.

A minute later Martin Rivero sent a cross to Jeff Larentowicz, who got a header off but Cannon leaped high and put two hands on the ball to catch it.

"We did it all. We stopped them going through us and made it difficult for their forwards to get on the ball," Renne said.

"And Joe had some decent saves, the one ones you hope and expect him to make."

Jordan Harvey tried to get the ball down low for Vancouver only to watch Drew Moor step in front to stop the play. However, Moor fanned on the ball and Mattocks had a clear path to it and poked it into an open net.

The Rapids kept the pressure on Cannon in the second half without any success. Cannon steered aside a shot by Brian Mullein from the slot in the 50th minute. Jamie Smith had a clear shot form 30 yards out deflected by a defender wide of the left post in the 61st.

"It was frustrating because we had our chances," Casey said. "It just couldn't go in today."

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)