Cal Beats Saint Mary's to Advance in Rugby National Championships
Cal’s rugby team overcame an early 16-point deficit to defeat second-seeded Saint Mary’s 29-28 in a riveting quarterfinal match of the D1A National Collegiate Championships Saturday afternoon in Moraga, California.
The third-seeded Bears had lost to the Gaels 38-34 in a regular-season encounter last month, but turned the tables with its strong comeback, then holding on in the closing seconds.
"I think our composure was the key today," Cal captain Max Schumacher said. "We grinded it out and played some phases of really good defense."
Elsewhere, BYU, seeded fourth in the West Region, defeated top-seeded Central Washington 62-31 in the other quarterfinal match in the West.
That means Cal will host BYU in a national semifinal game next Saturday at Witter Rugby Field. BYU defeated Cal 50-14 in the final regular-season game of this season, but the seedings and pairings for the postseason had been established before that game, so the Bears fielded a reserve team (its second-stringers) for that game.
In the East Region No. 1-ranked Navy defeated Army 30-6. Next weekend the Midshipmen will face the winner of Saturday night’s game between Like University and Lindenwood.
Both semifinal matches are next weekend, and the national championship match is scheduled for May 6 in Houston.
But the match of the day took place between East Bay rivals Cal and Saints Mary’s, who always play a close, tense match.
Saint Mary’s took a 21-5 lead late in the first half on a try by Joe Marchant, but the Bears closed the gap to 21-12 in the final minute of the opening half on a try by Schumacher, who also added the conversion.
That was the start of 24 consecutive points scored by Cal.
A Rand Santos try and Schmacher conversion reduced the Saint Mary’s lead to 21-19 14 minutes into the second half, and a Kealan O’Connell try followed by another Schumacher conversion gave Cal its first lead at 26-21 with about 22 minutes remaining in the contest.
A penalty kick by Schumacher worth three points pushed the Bears’ lead to eight points at 29-21 with six minutes to go.
However, Saint Mary’s scored a try with less than three minutes left, and Mario Sorti’s difficult conversion made it a 29-28 contest.
Saint Mary’s moved the ball downfield on its final possession, and with the clock showing double zeroes continued to advance the ball until a Gaels bobble and lost possession ended the attack and the game, giving the Bears the victory.
"We appreciate Saint Mary's," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "It was a pretty good game of rugby. Our boys were solid today, we're getting better."
.
Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport