Perhaps it was the steely gaze or that now familiar air of resilience, but when Jayden Nelson stepped up late in the penalty shootout on Saturday, he — and likely tens of thousands of Vancouver Whitecaps’ fans — had no doubt he would score.

And boy did he hit it!

French World Cup champ Hugo Lloris in goal stood no chance — Nelson fired a textbook spot kick that set up his teammate Sebastian Berhalter to bag the winner against LAFC, ensuring a date this Saturday with San Diego in the MLS Conference Final.

“Halfway through extra time I had already picked my spot,” Nelson admits, “And I knew we were going to hold out. You know, Hugo Lloris is in the net, and I watched him in the 2022 World Cup, which is crazy, but I just knew I had to take my time. You can see that I took a while to kick t

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