Cal Rugby: Bears Beat Defending National Champion Army
Cal made its final home rugby match of the season a good one as the Golden Bears beat defending national champion Army 31-14 on a rainy, windy Saturday afternoon at Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley.
Freshman Oliver Newall scored two tries for the Bears, who improved to 10-0 with their most significant victory of the year in rugby 15s.
“Army was very good. They are hard young men,” Cal head coach Jack Clark said. “Overall, I think we did pretty well. Plenty to work on, but that’s to be expected.”
Although important, Saturday’s win was just the beginning of a difficult three-game stretch to finish the regular season for Cal.
Cal faces another national power next Saturday, when it goes against Navy in Annapolis, Md. The Golden Bears then finish the regular season against Bay Area rival Saint Mary’s in a March 25 game in Moraga. Saint Mary’s defeated Cal in last year’s national semifinals in Berkeley, and the Gaels then lost the national championship game to Army 20-8 in Houston, Texas.
"This is the beginning of the most difficult stretch of matches in memory," Cal head coach Jack Clark said.
The Bears got off to a good start in that three-game challenge by demonstrating their superiority over the Black Knights, who are coached by former Cal rugby captain Matt Sherman and returned nine players from their national championship squad.
Army scored first on Saturday as Jonny Haley scored the try and added the conversion to give the Black Knights a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest.
Cal tied it 7-7 when Max Threkeld scored a try and captain Max Schumacher added the conversion with about 13 minutes left in the first half.
The Bears took the lead on Newall’s first try with six minutes left in the half, and even though Schumacher missed the conversion from a difficult angle, Cal had a 12-7 lead and stayed ahead the rest of the game.
Cal Liebowitz added a try less than two minutes before halftime, which, along with Schumacher’s conversion, put the Bears ahead 19-7 at intermission.
Army made it a tense game again when it scored a try less than two minutes into the second half, closing the margin to 19-14, but Cal added two tries while working with the wind in the second half to close out the Black Knight.
Newall slowed the Army momentum by scoring his second try with about 17 minutes left in the game, giving the Bears a 26-14 advantage, and Cal’s Caleb Tomasin clinched the victory by scoring a try with about nine minutes remaining.
“I think the team made a good step in the right direction for a big upcoming month, and we’ll take some very important lessons forward,” Threlkeld said. “It felt awesome to win a big game with a great crowd behind us. The boys really wanted it, and I’m proud of our effort.”
Cal last faced Army in 2020, a game the Golden Bears won 62-22. But the Black Knight have improved significantly since then, as evidenced by their national championship last year.
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