Cal Rugby: No. 5 Bears Top No. 3 Saint Mary's in a Classic Match

Golden Bears beat their East Bay rivals by three points in their regular-season finale

Jake Curtis | Mar 22, 2025

Cal rugby / Photo by Troy Jones

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California Golden Bears

A classic college rugby match on Saturday afternoon ended with Cal holding off East Bay rival Saint Mary’s 48-45 before a sold-out crown at Cal’s Witter Field.

With the win, the fifth-ranked Bears (11-1) presumably will get the No. 1 seed in the West in the playoffs, and they may meet third-ranked Saint Mary’s (8-3) again.

Saint Mary’s beat Cal twice last season, but this time the Bears overcame an early 19-5 deficit, then held on in a tense, back-and-forth struggle. Cal held the Gaels out of the try zone in the closing minutes after Saint Mary’s pushed forward inside the 22-meter line. The Gaels got within five meters of the go-ahead try but got no further.

Cal had scored the go-ahead try with less than six minutes left when Max Threlkeld scored a try on a beautifully placed kick ahead by Solomon Williams. That try and Filip Edstrom’s conversion gave Cal a 48-45 lead five minutes after the Gaels had scored a try to grab a 45-41 lead.

The score was tied 24-24 at halftime, and the Bears jumped ahead 34-24 by scoring two tries while the Gaels were a man down after Dom Besag was sent off with a yellow card.

But two tries by Saint Mary’s, the second by Besag, put the Gaels in front 38-34 before Elstrom scored a try and added the conversion to put Cal ahead 41-38 with 15 minutes left. That led to the wild finish

An action-packed first half ended with the score tied 24-24.

Cal scored first on a try by Rand Santos in the seventh minute, but Santos conversion from a difficult angle was no good.

Saint Mary’s then jumped ahead 19-5 with three tries in a matter of eight minutes. John Wilson scored the first Gaels try in the 13th minute and Hunter Mondlin added the conversion for a 7-5 Saint Mary’s lead.

King Matu scored the second Gales try, muscling across the try line, and Monlin’s boot made it 14-4.

A third consecutive Saint Mary’s try and missed conversion made it 19-5 before Cal responded with three straight tries.

Cade Crist scored to make it 19-12 after the conversion, and Masi Koi scored on a chip and chase to close the gap to 19-17.

Cal jumped ahead 24-19 on Max Threlkeld’s try and Santos conversion in the 37th minute, but Saint Mary’s tied it just before halftime on Dom Besag’s try. A missed conversion kept the score at 24-24

NOTES: The rankings listed in the story are from the College Rugby Association of America (CFAA). It posts rankings each month. Goff ranks Cal No. 4 and Saint Mary’s No. 8 in the nation, and Rugby Hawks ranks Cal No. 4 and Saint Mary’s No. 5.