CARY, N.C. — The University of Washington men’s soccer team had the national championship taken from its hands twice Monday night.
Once when NC State scored twice in the final 25 minutes of regulation and again just under two minutes into overtime.
The second time physically.
But after giving the trophy back to tournament officials while Harrison Bertos’ winning goal was reviewed for a possible offside, it was triumphantly returned and the celebration began. Bertos’ goal, off an assist from Egor Akulov just 1:55 into extra time, gave the Huskies a 3-2 victory at First Horizon Stadium and their first ever NCAA soccer title.
The victory capped an amazing run that saw coach Jamie Clark’s team win all six NCAA tournament games away from home, including a championship-clinching victory that came before a hostile sellout crowd of 10,316 pulling for an NC State team playing less than five miles from its campus.
The Wolfpack’s physical style didn’t allow the Huskies to find the kind of offensive rhythm that helped them dominate Furman in Friday’s semifinal win. But they adjusted quickly by defending when necessary and counterattacking when available.
After an even first half in which both teams attempted six shots and produced two dangerous scoring opportunities through the first 43½ minutes, the strategy paid off on a play that began with a long, clear deep into the NC State end.
Wolfpack defender Nikola Markovic got to the ball first. But instead of heading it away from trouble, the ball skimmed off him in the direction of his own goal. That forced keeper Logan Erb to hustle out to make a play.
Although Erb beat UW’s Nick O’Brien to the loose ball just outside the box, it caromed onto the foot of Zach Ramsey, who deposited it into the unguarded net for a 1-0 advantage into the halftime break.
The goal was an important one that did more than just change the momentum of the game and take some of the steam out of a partisan Wolfpack crowd hoping to will its team to the school’s first men’s team national championship since Jim Valvano’s basketball team stunned Houston in 1983.
UW (16-6-2) came into the game with a 12-0 record when scoring first. NC State was 0-2-1.
Building on the confidence of playing with the lead, the Huskies struck again 17 minutes into the second half. Again, it came off a counterattack, initiated when midfielder Connor Lofy dispossessed NC State’s Carlos Santamaria and sent the ball ahead in transition.
Richie Aman tracked it down on left wing, deked a defender to the ground and slipped a perfect pass across the box to an unmarked Joe Dale for the goal that seemed to awaken NC State’s dormant offense.
It took the Wolfpack (16-3-4) only four minutes to answer back when leading-scorer Donavan Phillip finally found the back of the net off a scrum in front of keeper Jadon Bowton. NC State struck again with just 3:28 remaining when Taig Healy finished off a beautiful passing exchange between teammates Tommy Calem and Justin McLean for the equalizer.
The Huskies got one final chance to avoid overtime when Aman was taken down just outside the box. But Alex Hall’s free kick bent right into the chest of Wolfpack keeper Erb.
This story will be updated.