Cal Rugby: Bears Lose Exciting Match to Saint Mary's

Cal does not often lose consecutive rugby XV matches to college opponents, but that is what happened to the Bears, who let an eight-point, second-half lead slip away in a 38-34 loss to archrival Saint Mary’s before a sold-out crowd of more than 2,000 at Cal’s Witter Field on Saturday afternoon.

Cal lost to top-ranked Navy two weeks ago and the loss to the Gaels dropped the Golden Bears’ record to 10-2. It's been at least 24 years -- and probably much longer -- since Cal lost consecutive rugby XV matches to American college opponents. That's how dominant Cal has been over the years.

But this was a particularly tough stretch, with games against defending national champion Army (a game Cal won) followed by games against Navy and Saint Mary's. And the Golden Bears' final regular-season game against BYU will be a challenge as well.

Cal nearly pulled out Saturday's game in the closing seconds.

“That’s two matches in a row against good teams where we’ve had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win,” Cal coach Jack Clark said. “Today, we copped some untimely penalties and had some skill breakdowns in the closing segments of the match.”

The Cal-Saint Mary’s matches have become a classic Bay Area rivalry, matching the two best rugby programs on the West Coast.

The Gaels (12-3) had the advantage in the early going, jumping out to a 12-0 lead, the second try being scored by Mario Storti, who finished the day with three tries for the Gaels.

A Cal try by Alex Aguero was followed by Storti’s second try to push the Gaels’ lead to 19-7. Cal's Evan Weigold scored to close the gap, and Aguero scored again to tie the game at 19-19.

But on the attack of the first half, Storti scored his third try to give the Gaels a 26-19 lead as the halftime whistle sounded.

Cal dominated the first several minutes of the second half, scoring 15 consecutive points. A 41-meter, three-point penalty kick by Max Schumacher followed by a try by Cal Liebowitz gave Cal its first lead of the contest at 29-26 about 14 minutes into the second half. Schumacher then added a try to push the Bears’ advantage to 34-26 with about 23 minutes left in the match after Schumacher’s conversion attempt hit the upright and was no good.

Cal seemed to have control of the match at that point, but Saint Mary’s got within a point with a try and conversion with about 16 minutes left. And the Gaels’ Joe Marchant plowed in for a try with 13 minutes left to put Saint Mary’s back in front 38-34 after a missed conversion.

Cal got close to the try line on its final attacking opportunity, but the Bears lost the ball inside the 22-yard line, giving Saint Mary’s the tough victory.

Saturday’s match was originally scheduled to be played on Saint Mary’s home field in Moraga, but the site was changed when it was determined the Gaels’ field had become too wet from the recent heavy rains. It led to a full stadium at Cal's home field.

Cal and Saint Mary’s had split two matchups last season. Cal topped the Gaels 31-24 in their final regular-season match, but Saint Mary’s defeated Cal 35-26 four weeks later in the national semifinals.

The Bears are hoping to get another shot at Saint Mary’s in this year's postseason, but Cal still has one regular-season game left, against BYU in Provo, Utah, on Friday morning. That match will be a challenge for Cal as the Cougars barely lost to Saint Mary’s 23-18 on the Gaels’ home field earlier this month.

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