No. 1 Navy Hands Cal Its First Rugby Loss of the Season

Golden Bears' comeback falls just short in a five-point loss on the Midshipmen's home field

A strong Cal comeback attempt in the closing minutes fell just short as the fourth-ranked Golden Bears suffered their first rugby loss of the season, losing to No. 1-ranked, unbeaten Navy 33-28 Saturday afternoon in Annapolis, Md.

Navy (13-0) held a 33-14 lead late in the game and seemed to have control of the contest, but Cal (10-1) scored two late tries and was on the move on their final two possessions before a loose ball on the Bears' last play ended the contest.

Cal played the game without co-captain Nathan Zylstra, center Will Shankland, wing Max Clark, lock Mats Dodd and flyhalf Nate Salter.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t play better, but give Navy some credit for that, along with, I suppose, how green we are," Cal coach Jack Clark said. "It’s a good stretch of matches to build our team.”

The Bears face Saint Mary's in Moraga on March 25 in their final regular-season game.

The wind in Annapolis was a major factor in Saturday's contest between college rugby 15 powerhouses.

Cal (10-1) had the wind at its back in the first half and took a 14-12 lead at halftime as the Bears' Charlie Walsh scored the first try of the game, and Max Threlkeld scored the Bears' second try just before halftime.  Max Schumacher conversions after both tries staked the Bears to the two-point halftime lead, as Navy's Roanin Kreiger missed a conversion on one of the Midshipmen's two first-half tries.

Navy had the stiff wind at its back in the second half and controlled much of the play from that point.

Navy's Sean MacLaney scored eight minutes into the second half to put Navy ahead 19-14 after the conversion, and Matthew Thibodaux scored second anf third tries of the game for Navy, which scored the first 21 points of the second half to take 33-14 lead with about 15 minutes left in the game.

However, Cal countered with a beautful try by Evan Weigold that, with the Schumacher conversion, made it 33-21 with a little less than 10 minutes left.

A missed penalty kick by Krieger kept Cal's hopes alive, and the Bears' Rand Santos scored a try with a little more than two minutes remaining to close the gap to 33-28 after the conversion.

Cal broke through the Navy line on its next offensive, but could not convert it into a score, and the Bears were making progress on their ensuing possession with the clock running past the 80-minute mark before Cal lost possession. Navy merely needed to kick the ball into touch to end the game.

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