MATTHEWS, N.C. — For a moment, the entire crowd at the Mecklenburg County SportsPlex held its breath to see where Zayd Dahir’s shot was going to land.

The eruption of Wakefield’s crowd gave the answer away.

It was the winning goal, coming with a little more than eight minutes left in Saturday’s N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A boys soccer championship, to give the Wolverines the 3-2 win over Marvin Ridge.

Dahir found himself with a defender on him when he received a through ball from teammate Ibra Ndiaye. He fought to win it back, was just a few yards away from the goalmouth, then got a touch that lifted high and into the far-side netting.

Wakefield’s dream of winning a first soccer title was coming true — which was not a certainty as the Mavericks rallied to make the game tied.

“I took the first touch, got whatever I could on it, from there it was slo-mo until it was in the top corner,” Dahir said.

Wakefield (24-4) led 2-0 at halftime, but Marvin Ridge (18-5-2), winners of 14 in a row, had started the year 3-4-2 but caught fire from late September on. They had not trailed at half in the postseason, but they were ready to erase a slow start again and came out with new life.

“I’m proud of my guys for coming back and fighting … If we would’ve played the second half the way we would’ve played the first half, it would’ve been different,” Marvin Ridge coach Jason Zak said. “This is probably one of the most frustrating teams I’ve ever coached but also one of the most special.”

Cassius McKinnon, moving up from his spot at left back, sent in the perfect cross to the box, where an unmarked Collin McKee headed it in for a 47th minute goal to cut the lead to 2-1.

McKee nearly made it a tied game one minute later, but Wakefield goalkeeper Davison Sauls got a hand on the shot to push it inches wide of the net. Sauls had eight saves on the day.

Marvin Ridge’s equalizer came in the 68th minute as a push in the box on a corner kick. That set up Brady Lloyd from the spot to make it 2-2.

Marvin Ridge’s never-say-die attitude — plus superb set pieces and trademark composure in the attacking third — was on full display.

In the first half, it had been Wakefield’s elite combination of options in the attacking third and pursuit of every 50-50 ball and second ball that put the Wolverines up.

A 60-second span helped immensely.

Off a through ball from Santiago Londono-Palomino, Diego Vasquez took a touch and curled in an unsavable shot into the far side upper corner to make it 1-0 in the 11th minute.

Less than 45 seconds later, Marvin Ridge’s McKinnon was tripped in the box and awarded a PK. But Liam Galvin’s shot to the bottom left side was saved by Sauls.

“It was a little bit of reading the body language and a little bit of instinct too. I’ve dealt with my fair share of PKs up to this point and I’ve been successful,” Sauls said, referring in part to the East regional final, which came down to PKs, “so I kept it the same.”

The Wolverines’ second goal came when Ndiaye’s through ball to Londono-Palomino was — much like Vasquez’s shot earlier — lofted into the far upper corner. Wakefield fired just four shots on goal for the game, but they were top-class.

Ndiaye’s second assist, the game-winner, helped him net MVP honors.

Wakefield, the third seed from the East, was making its first appearance in the state championship. The Wolverines avenged three of its four losses in the playoffs.

“This is a storybook season for us and we knew that today was not going to be easy,” said Wakefield coach Tony Calabria. “We knew somewhere it was written that there was going to be drama, because there’s always drama with our games, we knew it was going to be tough, but I knew without a doubt the the boys were going to pull through because they’re just such a good team.”

Marvin Ridge, the sixth seed from the West, was making its fifth championship appearance, having won three championships.

Before the game, each team honored its sportsmanship award winner for the season: Will Palmer from Marvin Ridge and Gabriel Riehle from Wakefield.

But there was also plenty of sportsmanship after the game, when Wakefield’s players walked up to Marvin Ridge’s players and consoled them.

“I feel like, just how close we were to being in their situation — it was 2-2 up to that (72nd) minute, it brought us closer to them for sure,” Sauls said. “The way they came out in that second half, didn’t quit, came out strong, was awesome.”