Harrison Bertos scored the winner 1:54 into overtime for Washington. There appeared to be an obvious offside on the initial pass into the area, but after a review, the referee allowed Bertos' goal to stand, ending the contest, which had an overtime sudden-death format.
It was the first national championship for unseeded Washington (16-6-2), which became the first team to win six road matches in the tournament - beating six seeded teams along the way under the guidance of coach Jamie Clark. The Huskies won in their second trip to the final after losing 2-0 to Clemson in 2021.
No. 15 seed N.C. State (16-3-4) made the final for the first time in coach Marc Hubbard's second season. The Wolfpack were aiming for the school's first men's national championship since Jim Valvano led the men's basketball team to the title in 1983.
The Wolfpack tied the game with just over 3 minutes left in regulation before a packed crowd at First Horizon Stadium in Cary.
Zach Ramsey scored unassisted with 1:12 remaining in the first half after an attempted goalkeeper clearance failed to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead at the break. Ramsey scored into an empty net after Wolfpack goalkeeper Logan Erb couldn't corral the ball at the top of the box. It was Ramsey's second goal of the tournament.
It was only the second time this season that N.C. State trailed at halftime.
Richie Aman sent a cross to the center of the goal as the defender marking him slipped, and Joe Dale knocked it in for a 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute.
Donavan Phillip answered in the 66th, for the Wolfpack, scoring with an assist from Nikola Markovic to cut it to 2-1 with his fourth goal of the tournament. The Wolfpack entered 11-0-1 when Phillip scored.
Taig Healy scored the equalizer with 3:28 remaining with assists from Justin Mclean and Calem Tommy.
Huskies keeper Jadon Bowton, the only remaining player from the 2021 squad, had five saves. Erb saved six shots for N.C. State.
The temperature was 28 degrees when the match started in the first-ever men's soccer meeting between N.C. State and Washington.
After beating Georgetown on the road by a 3-2 score, the Wolfpack advanced to the NCAA College Cup for the first time since 1990.
The Pack then beat Saint Louis 2-1 in front of more than 10,000 fans on Friday night. The Huskes advanced to the championship game by beating Furman 3-1.
The Associated Press contributed.
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