College Crosse Final Four Rapid Recap: DOWN GOES LOYOLA!! North Carolina wins!!!

DOWN GOES LOYOLA!!! UNC's going to the championship game!!! pic.twitter.com/cSxoSyPnMf

— College Crosse (@SexyTimeLax) May 28, 2016

In the end, North Carolina moves on to the National Championship game to face the winner of Maryland and Brown later this afternoon. But in-between, they dominated the first half, and nearly let Loyola get too close back in it. Here's a rapid recap of the game:

1st Half

UNC got off to a 3-0 lead early on, which kicked off with a man-up goal from Brian Cannon. The Greyhounds were two men down, each for tripping, and those were the only penalties of the day. Zach Herreweyers got the Greyhounds on the board with an assist from Pat Spencer, but UNC notched four unanswered to make it a 7-1 game. After Brian Sherlock made it 7-2, goals from Luke Goldstock and Chris Cloutier's third of the game made it a 9-2 first quarter, and Loyola pulled Jacob Stover in favor of Grant Limone.

The second quarter was nearly the same, with Cloutier scoring three more goals to help give the Tar Heels a 14-5 lead at the half. This game looked over, and in reality it was. But it came close to being a remarkable comeback for Loyola.

2nd Half

Tyler Albrecht scored two goals, and Sherlock notched his second of the day to make it a 14-8 game earlier in the 3rd quarter. But then, Cloutier scored two more goals, including breaking the NCAA Championship Weekend record for goals in a single game with his eighth, to give the Tar Heels a 16-8 lead after three.

But then, Loyola made an exciting 4-0 run to open up the final stanza, as Romar Dennis, Albrecht, John Duffy, and Herreweyers cut North Carolina's lead to 16-12. Albrecht and Herreweyers scored their third goals of the game, while Spencer's got his fifth assist of the game on Herreweyers' tally and also tied the Loyola single-season record for points with 89. He tied Gary Hanley's mark set back in 1981.

But Cloutier's ninth and Steve Pontrello's second finalized the score. The Tar Heels are going to their first National Championship game since 1993.

Stats:

UNC:

Chris Cloutier - 9,0

Steve Pontrello - 2,3

Luke Goldstock - 2,1

Timmy Kelly - 2,0

Patrick Kelly - 1,1

Stephen Kelly - 0,2

Brian Cannon - 1,0

William McBride - 1,0

Shane Simpson - 0,1

Michael Tagliaferri - 0,1

Brian Balkam - 7 saves, .350 SV%

Loyola:

Pat Spencer - 1,5

Tyler Albrecht - 3,1

Zach Herreweyers - 3,0

Brian Sherlock - 2,0

Romar Dennis - 2,0

Nick Mazza - 1,0

John Duffy - 1,0

Jacob Stover - 2 saves, .182 SV%

Grant Limone - 7 saves, .438 SV%

Team Stats:

SHOTS

UNC - 39 (27 Shots on Goal)

Loyola - 39 (20 Shots on Goal)

FACEOFFS

UNC - 19-of-35 (Stephen Kelly: 19-of-35)

Loyola - 16-of-35 (Graham Savio: 16-of-31; Mike Orefice: 0-of-4)

GROUNDBALLS

UNC - 29

Loyola - 24

CLEARS

UNC - 10-11

Loyola - 13-16

TURNOVERS

UNC - 8

Loyola - 11

CAUSED TURNOVERS

UNC - 8

Loyola - 4