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NC State Falls to Washington in Overtime in the National Championship Game on Controversial Goal

Matthew Bradham

Published

6 months ago

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The NC State men’s soccer team nearly brought home its first national championship in school history last night but fell short in overtime, losing 3–2 to Washington.

Two-thirds of the way through the contest, the Wolfpack found themselves in a situation they had only been in once all year. Prior to last night, NC State had allowed an opponent to score two goals in a match only twice this season. The Wolfpack lost 3–0 to Syracuse in the ACC Tournament and defeated Georgetown 3–2 in the Sweet 16.

At the 61:37 mark, the Huskies scored their second goal of the game while NC State remained scoreless. In the frigid temperatures, the Wolfpack didn’t give up. Four minutes later, junior Donavan Phillip scored his 19th goal of the season, pulling the Pack within one.

Senior Taig Healy put the ball in the back of the net with less than four minutes left in regulation to tie things up.

Despite the resiliency… despite the heroics, Washington scored the game-winning goal less than two minutes into overtime.

Not to take anything away from the Huskies, but the game shouldn’t have ended. A Washington player was offsides when the ball was crossed. Read the full thread below.

The referees reviewed the play, and despite having the opportunity to overturn the goal by retroactively calling offsides, the goal was upheld.

According to the rules, a player is offsides if they are positioned offsides when the ball is serviced and interfere with play, interfere with an opponent, or gain an advantage. The Washington player interfered with an NC State player’s ability to make a play on the ball, which resulted in the Huskies maintaining possession.

It’s tough to see NC State’s historic season end on a controversial call, but hats off to Washington for winning its first national championship in school history.

NC State had its opportunities. The Wolfpack finished +4 in shots, +1 in shots on goal, and +5 in corner kicks.

I know it’s only been two years, but it’s safe to say head coach Marc Hubbard has transformed NC State soccer into a national brand. In Year 1, he led the Wolfpack to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years. This season, Hubbard guided NC State to its first Final Four appearance since 1990 (just the second in program history) and its first-ever national championship match.

The outlook for Year 3 of the Hubbard era looks bright as well. Yes, the Wolfpack will be losing significant talent. Second Team All-American goalkeeper Logan Erb, First Team All-ACC midfielder Taig Healy, and Third Team All-ACC defender Calem Tommy are all graduating.

However, Donavan Phillip, who scored a nation-leading 19 goals this season, sounded like he plans to return for his final year after the match last night. He also referenced sophomore center back Niko Markovic returning as well.

Both Phillip and Markovic earned First Team All-American honors this season.

Defender Riley Moloney, who earned ACC All-Freshman honors, is also set to return.

Hubbard led the Wolfpack to the best season in program history in Year 2, and he has his sights set on even more heading into Year 3.

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