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There it was. The football gods had finally smiled and blessed the Vancouver Whitecaps.

A 93rd-minute penalty-kick call put the Caps on the cusp of beating the Seattle Sounders, their hated Cascadia Cup rivals who had marched into B.C. Place Saturday boasting a perfect record and an offence producing goals at a record rate.

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But the call went to video review, and when referee Robert Sibiga returned from the sideline monitor, he waved off the penalty to groans of disbelief from the 24,803 in attendance. At least those not sitting in the Sounders’ away supporters section.

The scoreless draw did result in the Caps’ first points of the season after opening 2018 with three straight losses, giving them a dose of confidence heading into next Friday’s home game against the L.A. Galaxy.

Here’s what we learned …

Photo by BEN NELMS / THE CANADIAN PRESS

THE CALL

After weathering wave after wave of Sounders pressure, the Caps burst upfield on a counterattack, with Lucas Venuto springing Joaquin Ardaiz into the Seattle box. The Caps striker stepped through two defenders, unleashing a curling shot that Stefan Frei punched away. The rebound went to Vancouver’s Inbeom Hwang, whose shot was blocked by Seattle’s Kim Kee-hee, and then Hwang was taken down on the Sounders defender’s follow-through.