Birmingham Legion FC’s season continues.

Birmingham’s pro soccer team came from behind twice and got a final goal from JJ Williams in stoppage time to stun North Carolina FC 3-2 in the first round of the United Soccer League playoffs Wednesday night on the road.

The game was only the second loss at home all season for the seventh-seeded North Carolina, while the win was historic for Legion FC. The playoff win was the franchise’s first, coming in its inaugural season in the USL’s Eastern Conference.

“The playoffs always has that energy when you come into it," Williams said, "but I think we prepared really well coming into this game. We had fresh legs and it was really all about the energy. It was all about getting more shots on goal, more shots on frame and creating more offense than we have these last couple of games. That was our main focus.”

The playoff game had a sense of urgency from the first whistle, as both teams played with offensive intensity.

North Carolina got on the board first, with a goal from Nazmi Albadawi in the 19th minute, and Birmingjam’s Femi Hollinger-Janzen tied the game at 1-all in the 35th minute when he scored on a deflected bounce.

Hollinger-Janzen was crucial all game. His aggressive play saved numerous chances from North Carolina, and he came up big as a starter in place of injured Razak Cromwell. His goal Wednesday night was his first of the season.

.@bouncingfemi with his first goal of the season and it was a BIG ONE! #NCvBHM | 1-1 pic.twitter.com/CIzr006ZOd — x - Birmingham Legion FC (@bhmlegion) October 23, 2019

Birmingham found itself on the defensive most of the first half, relying on numerous saves from goalkeeper Matt VanOekel and finding playmakers Daniel Johnson and Prosper Kasim mostly neutralized.

“I was really pleased with our attack,” Legion FC coach Tom Soehn said. "We generated so many chances tonight against a team that hasn’t lost but once at home, probably the best home record in the East, and we laid three on them. Credit to them they are a good team. You could tell they are well coached. They play a style of soccer that’s easy on the eyes, and I knew it would match up well with us. So, credit to them, but I really enjoyed our guys performance, the effort they put in defensively, and then how we turned that into chances.”

Legion FC regrouped at halftime, though, and came out in the second period rejuvenated. The team from the Magic City got numerous touches and scoring opportunities in the half, and also found ways to involve Johnson and Kasim more fully.

North Carolina’s Dre Fortune scored in the 59th minute, but Birmingham responded quickly with an equalizer in the 66th minute from Zach Harivaux.

North Carolina had chances to go ahead in the second half, but were repeatedly rebuffed. VanOekel went down in the 83rd minute with a knee to the face as he saved a potential go-ahead goal for North Carolina, but was able to stay in to finish the game.

Both teams moved at a frenetic pace as referees added three minutes in extra time.

Williams’ goal as time wound down in the 93rd minute came as he worked around a defender and got a long shot in off his left foot.

The goal was the Montgomery, Alabama native’s eighth goal of the season and made him the team’s leading scorer this season.

Legion FC ended with 19 shots to North Carolina’s 14; nine of the team’s shots were on target, while North Carolina had five. Birmingham also led in possession 53 percent to 47 perecent and were especially dominant in the second half.

Legion faithful gathered at BBVA Field -- the team’s home field on the UAB campus -- for a live watch party and celebrated the historic win.

. @JJ23Williams will never have to buy a beer in Birmingham again! — x - Magic City Brigade (@MCBrigade14) October 24, 2019

The team now moves on to the quarterfinals of the Eastern Conference playoffs, as Legion FC will face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday on the road. The top-seed Riverhounds beat Birmingham 1-0 just last week in the regular season finale.

The group we put out (on Sunday) will not be the group that they’ll see (on Saturday), so we were able to evaluate and do some game prepping on them," Soehn said. "Obviously it’ll be a little tougher on the road, because I’m sure they’ve got a really good home record as well, but we’ll watch a lot of film, we’ll put together a game plan, and our guys will be ready to carry it out.”