Cal Rugby: No. 5 Bears Hang On to Beat No. 6 Army

Defensive stand in the closing minutes enables Cal to win a tight match on Homecoming Weekend

Cal rugby / Photo by Rudy Pics

A defensive stand with less than four minutes left helped fifth-ranked Cal hang on for a 24-19 victory over sixth-ranked Army on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley at Cal’s Homecoming/National Champions Reunion game.

Cal (9-1) led the entire game, but the Black Knights (10-2) were within a meter of tying the game with a try and going ahead with an accompanying conversion. Army got the ball across the try line, but as the referee got down on the ground to get sight of the ball, he signaled that a Cal player had his hand under the ball, giving possession to the Bears with a little over three minutes remaining in the match.

The Bears have one regular-season game remaining, a home game next Saturday against Bay Area rival Saint Mary’s, but the Bears were thankful to come away with a win on Saturday.

Cal took an early 12-0 lead on a try by Cade Crist eight minutes into the game and a try by Masi Koi in the 13th minute.

Army cut the deficit to 12-7 on a George Engles try and coversion in the 27th minute, but the Cal's Tom Dixon pushed across a try from short range in the 30th minute to make it a 17-7 match.

Cal survived a Army threat in the final two minutes of the half, stopping the Black Knights a meter short of a try, giving the Bears a 10-lead at halftime.

Army reduced the Cal lead to 17-12 on a try five minutes into the second half, but a Mark Fell try accompanied by Rand Santos conversion in the 26th minute pushed the Cal lead to 24-12.

Army made it a 24-19 game on a Jacob Bottarini try and conversion with 13 minutes remaining before Cal made its critical defensive stand with less tha four miutes to go.

Santo missed a long penalty kick attempt in the closing seconds, and Army’s resulting possession with zeroes on the clock never got out of its own end.

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