CARY — The pro-NC State crowd at First Horizon Stadium had reached near peak delirium as its Wolfpack men’s soccer team used late heroics to force overtime in the NCAA College Cup national title game Monday night.
But Washington’s Harrison Bertos ended the red-and-black party less than two minutes into the sudden-death overtime period, sending the Huskies to a 3-2 victory and their first national title.
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“I thought that was the best team in the country, so I knew we were going to have to beat the best team in the final, and I told these guys that’s what finals are supposed to be,” Washington coach Jamie Clark said. “They’re supposed to be against a great team that’s going to force you to be incredible.”
NC State was seeking its first NCAA title in men’s soccer – and its first in any men’s team sport since its unforgettable 1983 basketball championship.
And fans didn’t want to miss it. Not with the final four right in their backyard. The official attendance was 10,316 and nearly all of them were pulling for the Wolfpack, turning out in a bitter cold to root on second-year coach Marc Hubbard’s program.
"We're still cheering for NC State," said Hattie Attmore, a NC State fan. “ And I have my ski stuff on to still do it.”
Washington scored the game’s first goal with less than 90 seconds left in the first half. NC State goalkeeper Logan Erb came outside of the penalty box to knock the ball away from Washington’s Nick O’Brien, but the ball fell to Washington’s Zach Ramsey, who scored into an empty net with 1:12 remaining in the first half.
The Huskies added to the lead about 16 minutes into the second half on a cross from Joe Dale to Richie Aman. The Huskies won possession on a takeaway and carried it downfield.
“Those fans for NC State just fired us up even more,” Ramsey said. “And if you would have told us at the start of the season that we’d be in the national final playoff with one moment that could win the game, we’d take that 100 times out of 100.”
NC State hadn’t won a game after trailing all season. But the Wolfpack didn’t back down.
“There’s plenty of time left,” forward Donavan Phillip said.
“We have nothing to lose at this point.”
Less than four minutes later, Phillip scored his 19th goal of the season after a scrum in the box. It reignited the crowd – and gave the Wolfpack true belief.
“We knew anything is possible,” he said.
The Wolfpack would have to wait a bit longer for the equalizer. With Washington desperately holding off the attacking Wolfpack, Taig Healy tied the game in the final four minutes with a well-placed chip shot from just outside the box.
Healy played for Hubbard at New Hampshire and transferred to NC State alongside his coach.
“This just showcases how big is what Hubbs built and this team,” defender Nikola Markovic said. “Playing out there is unreal when you have 10,000 people and maybe 9,000 are your fans. And I think we proved it in the game. Down 2-0, we came back 2-2. We fell short a little bit, but we built this program up is unreal and it’s only going to go up from here.”
Bertos netted the game winner off a set piece and a series of passes inside the box.
“It just fell right at my feet, and I whacked it in,” Bertos said.
As Washington players celebrated with a distance of the field sprint, officials reviewed the final goal. The review gave the players a chance to compose themselves and soak in a final moment. Healy said he told his teammates how proud he was of them.
“Nothing’s going to be perfect in life,” Hubbard said, “so if you can take a deep breath and kind of reflect quick before you react, I think that’s what that represents.”
In just two years, Hubbard has led the Wolfpack program to consecutive Round of 16 appearances, its first College Cup since 1990 and its first-ever national title game. He said he was devastated for his players.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the group of individuals we have in that locker room and what they’ve done this year and what they represent,” Hubbard said. “The sun will come up tomorrow and we got to get back to work and move on.”