Bears mauled by St. Mary’s as playoff comeback falls short
About 27 minutes into Saturday’s national semifinal, nothing looked like it was supposed to for No. 1-seeded Cal rugby. Already down on the scoreboard, the Bears found themselves with their heels on the goal line, making tackle after tackle in a desperate attempt to keep the ferocious St. Mary’s attack from driving over the line once again.
Finally, there was relief: The referee’s whistle sounded as he motioned to signal that a Gael’s pass had drifted forward, allowing Cal to put the ball into the ensuing scrum.
As soon as scrumhalf Henry Poon inserted the ball, however, the Cal scrum was pushed back and the ball was stolen. Moments later, Gaels forward Angelo Aguirre plunged through the blue and gold wall and touched down for his team’s fourth try. The conversion made the score 28-0, a deficit that proved too great for Cal to overcome in the 35-26 defeat.
“We had dug ourselves too big of a hole,” said Cal head coach Jack Clark.
Clark credited the Gaels for dominating territory and executing well but expressed frustration with how his team started, particularly when it came to tackling.
Witter Rugby Field was absolutely packed. Tickets were sold out, a contingent of fans stood when there was no more room in the stands, and even more watched from a hill overlooking the field. But for almost all of the first half, only the sizable contingent of St. Mary’s fans had any occasion to cheer.
That first half was dominated by St. Mary’s, played almost entirely in Bear territory with Cal forced to constantly kick away possession to keep the Gaels at bay. It wasn’t until after the 28-point lead was built that the blue and gold put together a threatening attacking opportunity, opting to kick for the corner and go for a try off a penalty instead of attempting a penalty goal to score 3. But the Bears mistimed the lineout, allowing the Gaels to steal possession back.
When asked about the decision to be aggressive, Clark said that the team needed a try at the end of the half to regain some momentum. Despite missing their first opportunity to do so, the Bears put together a tremendous possession with the first-half clock well into the red. Cal drove the length of the field, aided by a few timely St. Mary’s penalties, giving fifth-year wing Marcus Shankland a chance to finish in the corner, making the halftime score 28-5.
That try sparked a huge change of momentum, and the Bears came out firing in the second half, dominating the first 20 minutes. Sophomore prop Emilio Shea powered over for the Bears’ first try of the half after fifth-year hooker Jack Manzo got over the ball for a steal to give Cal good field position.
Then, sophomore center Will Shankland made a big break up the middle of the pitch, finishing off the try himself to close the gap further. Finally, fifth-year lock and captain Sam Golla drove over the line for the Bears’ fourth try to make the score 28-26.
“What did we have to lose, man?” Golla. “Down 23 points at half, we had 40 minutes to go. What else are we going to do except play our guts out?”
The momentum stagnated after the Bears failed to gather a Gael grubber kick, and the visitors capitalized with another 7 points. The blue and gold threatened several times but never got over the line again as St. Mary’s held on for the victory and a spot in the Division I-A championship against Army in Houston next weekend.
“We beat them before, so them putting up 28-5 on us is our own fault,” Golla, who is one of four finalists for the Rudy Scholz Award given to college rugby’s best player, said.
The Bears defeated the Gaels 31-24 on March 26 in their final game of the regular season, handing St. Mary’s its only loss of the season so far. Now the Gaels have their revenge, ending Cal’s undefeated season and extending their 15s rugby title drought.
The blue and gold will have to regroup next season without some of their stars from this year, including Golla, who said he has interest in playing professionally. However, the program’s history suggests there will be enough talent rising through the ranks to keep Cal in title contention going forward.
“I’m gutted. It’s disappointing,” Poon said. “Not the result we wanted. I’m really proud of the effort from the boys.”
Maxfield Mullins covers rugby. Contact him at mmullins@dailycal.org.