No. 1-Ranked Cal Rugby Squad Crushes No. 6 Army

Cal’s No. 1-ranked rugby squad traveled to the East Coast on Saturday, and despite a shaky start the Golden Bears ended up crushing sixth-ranked Army 70-18 in West Point, New York.

Cal (12-0) has one regular-season remaining, against fifth-ranked Saint Mary’s in Moraga on March 28, before Cal begins defense of its national championship in the postseason.

Max Threlkeld scored three tries for Cal on Saturday, and Oliver Newall and Oliver Teague scored two apiece as Cal recovered after a slow start.

Cal did not start the game efficiently. A number Cal penalties and mistakes helped Army (8-3) take an 11-7 lead 15 minutes into the game.

But the Golden Bears then scored 56 consecutive points to put the game away.

Cal took control of the game by scoring two tries in the final six minutes of the first half.

The pivotal try was scored by Masi Koi, who kicked the ball ahead, sprinted after it and jumped on the ball in the try zone just ahead of an Army player.

That put the Bears ahead 14-11 after Rand Santos’ conversion with about six minutes left in the first half.

Threlkeld then scored his first try on a 4-meter run in the closing seconds of the first half to put the Bears ahead 21-11 at halftime.

Cal dominated the second half with its precise open-field play.

Even though an apparent Cal try was negated by an obstruction call early in the second half, Threlkeld scored his second try on a nice pass from Masi Koi to make it a 28-11 match 15 minutes into the second half.

Oliver Kirk scored the next Cal try on a strong run to make it 35-11 as Cal’s superiority in the open began to show itself.

Midway through the second half, two Army players were sent off, and the Bears’ dominance in space became more pronounced.

Cal scored four tries with virtually no resistance in the 10 minutes that the Bears had 15 players on the field to Army’s 13.

Threlkeld, Solomon Williams, Newall and Teague scored tries in rapid succession to end Cal’s 56-0 run, giving Cal a 63-11 lead with a little more than 10 minutes left.

In the College Football Association of America rankings released Friday, Cal is ranked No. 1 and Army is sixth.

The latest Goff Ruby Report rankings and RugbyHawk rankings both also have Cal at No. 1 and Army at No. 6.