Cal Rugby: Bears Lose to Army on Muddy Field

No. 7 Cal unable to keep up with inspired, 12th-ranked Army squad

Cal’s seventh-ranked rugby squad could not deal with its opponent or the rainy, muddy conditions in West Point, N.Y., in a 27-14 loss to No., 12 Army on Saturday afternoon.

Not much went right for Cal, which struggled with ballhandling and footing in the wet conditions. The Bears’ record fell to 9-2, and they have lost both matches to elite college rugby squads, BYU and Army.

“Congratulations to Army, they were the better team today,” Cal head coach Jack Clark said according t the Cal website. “No team can win big matches with the amount of penalties and turnovers we had today. We’ll just keep working to improve our rugby.”

Army improved to 4-4-1, but its ranking and record are deceiving because this was the Black Knights’ first rugby 15s match since November 10, when they barely lost to top-ranked Navy 23-21.

Army was the national champion two years ago, and the Black Knights played at that level on Saturday, taking an early lead and never trailing in its victory on Saturday.

The Black Knicks took a quick 3-0 lead on a penalty by Jonny Haley, and Andrew Bardak’s try made it 10-0 after Haley added the conversion.

Cal had an apparent try negated on a penalty for not releasing, but the Bears’ Solomon Williams later scored a try on a wild play that brought Cal within in 10-7 after Kealan O’Connell’s conversion with 12 minutes left in the first half. 

But Army took a 17-7 lead into halftime on a try and conversion with seven minutes remaining.

Early in the second half, Cal came up with a play that looked like it might turn things in its favor. An Army player was stripped of the ball, and Cal’s Max Threlkeld  gained control for a try that reduced the Army lead to 17-14 following O’Connell’s conversion five minutes into the second half.

Haley converted a penalty to push the Black Knights’ lead to 20-14, but the finishing blow came on an impressive run and by Army’s Nate Gould, whose try and Haley’s conversion gave Army a 27-14 advantage with 23 minutes to go.

With 12 minutes left, a yellow card to Army gave Cal a man advantage for 10 minutes, but the Bears were unable to convert despite several penetrations inside the 22-meter line.

Cal’s next key contest is a March 16 home match against No. 1 Navy.

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