Cal Rugby Beats Central Washington to Advance to National Semifinals

Golden Bears will host Saint Mary's next Saturday with a berth in the national title game on the line

Marcus Shankland scored four tries as No. 1-ranked Cal overcame an early 5-0 deficit to defeat Central Washington 43-26 in Berkeley on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the national collegiate rugby tournament.

The Bears will host the semifinal game next Saturday when they take on longtime Bay Area rival Saint Mary's, which scored a late try to take down BYU 24-22 in the other West Region quarterfinal game.

Cal beat Saint Mary's in a rugged match 31-24 back on March 26, and next week's contest at Witter Field figures to be another closely contested match.

The winner of the Cal-Saint Mary's match will advance to the national championship game in Houston, Texas, on April 30

Cal improved to 13-0 with its win at Witter Field on Saturday, beating Central Washington for the second time this season. The Bears defeated the Wildcats 48-19 earlier this season, but Central Washington jumped on top on Saturday when Jack Tregoning scored a try about four minutes into the game.

The conversion was missed, and when Cal's Jack Manzo scored the first of his two tries in the 10th minute and Nate Salter added the conversion, the Bears went ahead to stay at 7-5.

That started a run of 38 straight points for the Bears.

Marcus Shankland scored his first try in the 18th minute, and Manzo added his second try in the 31st minute to increase the Cal lead to 21-5.  

The Bears put the game away when Shankland scored two goals in the final three minutes of the first half, putting Cal safely ahead 33-5 at intermission.

When Shankland scored his final try on a long breakaway run early in the second half, the Bears held  38-5 lead.

It was an impressive comeback effort for Shankland, who had been out several weeks because of injury before returning to action Saturday.

"After being out for so long it was a nice confidence boost to get on the scoreboard," Shankland said. "But it's a team sport, so I don't get the opportunity to score unless the boys on the inside are doing their job."

Play got a little ragged at that point as substitutes began to enter the match, enabling Central Washington (7-5) to make the final score closer.

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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