Much of Friday night’s ACC opener against Boston College seemed like a game the NC State men’s soccer team would want to forget.

It ended up being unforgettable.

After going down 1-0 in the 52nd minute, the Wolfpack (4-1-0, 1-0 ACC) climbed back into the match through sophomore forward Ade Taiwo, whose goal in the 67th minute leveled the score. The game headed to overtime, and with just 1:48 left in the second OT period, sophomore defender Caleb Duvernay completed the comeback with a golden goal, securing a 2-1 win over the Eagles (3-2-0, 0-1 ACC) at Dail Soccer Field.

“I thought we got what we deserved,” NC State head coach Kelly Findley said. “We should’ve been up a few goals going into the half and we weren’t.

“In the end, I’m really pleased with coming back from giving the goal away, especially when we could’ve scored in the first couple of minutes to start the second half. But I thought we got exactly what we deserved. We had most of the ball, we defended well, our transition was excellent, the effort was great, and we only rotated four guys in the game, so to have guys play about 110 minutes was excellent.”

The most surprising facet of the Pack’s double OT win was that it never should have gotten that far. NC State’s dominance on the field was striking, such was the amount of possession and number of chances the Wolfpack amassed.

In the first half, NC State had six corner kicks to BC’s one and had five clear chances, while the Eagles managed three shots that didn’t trouble senior Pack goalkeeper Alex McCauley’s net. McCauley was only forced into making one save over the course of the entire match.

Similar to the match against College of Charleston, NC State’s midfield diamond created tactical problems for Boston College that the Eagles never adjusted to defend. Once again, the Wolfpack’s dominance in possession centrally opened up the wide areas of the field, and the outside backs, freshman Simon Blotko and Duvernay, had plenty of space and time to hit crosses into the box.

“Tactically we wanted to have possession of the ball, we talked about that, and keep our tempo high,” Findley said. “We knew they would get pinned back, and then we had to transition really well. I thought we did a great job of that. In the first half they were deep, deep, deep in their half and when we gave it away we got to it and won it back, so I was really pleased with that…we created plenty of chances; we just need to work on finishing.”

Junior midfielder Yanni Hachem and sophomore midfielder Zach Knudson both missed good opportunities in the first half, which ended up being a theme in the match. State did not put the game to bed early, and the Eagles capitalized in the 52nd minute, earning a scrappy goal on the counter attack.

“Especially with us being a young team, I think it’s key to be level-headed in that moment,” said senior captain Holden Fender about encouraging the team after going down a goal. “The guys don’t need to be yelled at then. We were playing fine, we were getting chances and all we needed was somebody to step in. I just told the guys, ‘look, it’s gonna come. Just put the chance away when we get it.’ Fortunately, Ade was there when the ball bounced out and he put it in the back of the net.”

NC State pushed for the equalizer and found it in the 67th minute. This time, a cross from the left was flicked on by graduate forward Phil Carmon, and Taiwo slammed it home at the back post for his first career goal.

“It’s been two years since I’ve scored a goal, and it felt like last year I was getting closer and closer and then I got hurt again,” Taiwo said. “I got hurt the fifth game last year, and this was the fifth game this year. I was like ‘please just get me through this game.’ Next thing you know, the ball drops from Phil, and I hit it in. My first reaction was to look at the linesman, no flag. I didn’t even know where to celebrate so I just ran to my teammates. That’s all I could do.”

With the momentum regained, the Wolfpack pushed for the winner. At home and having dominated the game, a draw would have been a disappointing result, but at the end of 90, the score remained knotted at 1-1, forcing extra time.

In OT, McCauley’s only true save was a crucial one, denying Boston College forward Simon Enstrom from close range, but other than that chance, the game was played almost exclusively in the Eagles’ end.

Knudson nearly finished the match in the 102nd minute with a close-range header, but his attempt was right at the BC goalkeeper.

With a draw seemingly in the cards, the Pack mounted one last drive forward and produced a fine combination. Blotko started the move, passing into Knudson, who deftly flicked the ball between his legs to freshman midfielder Julius Duchscherer. Duchscherer played Blotko in down the right, and the German right back’s cross across goal was rocketed home by Duvernay.

“Our new formation let’s me get up the field quite a bit,” said Duvernay about getting his second goal of the season. “I’m goal hungry, so I’ve been wanting to score a lot. Chances are there and goals are coming, so hopefully there’s more to it.”

With the victory, NC State equals its ACC win total from 2014 and makes it four wins in five on the season.

“It’s huge,” Fender said. “Last year one win would’ve taken us from eighth to fourth almost. Anytime you can get three points in the league, it’s big.”

The Pack takes on Wofford at home Tuesday with sights set on a fifth win.