Jan. 14, 2006
BERKELEY - Season-opening home victories by Cal Varsity Rugby over Humboldt State and California Maritime Academy on Jan. 14 officially ended an eight-month hibernation for the national collegiate champion Golden Bears.
Spirited opposition and wet conditions that grew colder throughout the day could not take the edge off of Cal's pressure and counter-attacks. The Bears overcame several self-inflicted setbacks, including ball-handling gaffes and hasty kicking, to come away with a 62-5 win over Humboldt State followed by a 60-5 decision over Cal Maritime.
"Our first matches since April of last year, it's nice to get out and play again," said match-day captain Andrew Lindsey. "It's fun to be out here but we still have tons of work ahead of us."
Coach Jack Clark concurred that hard work will define the degree of Cal's success as the season unfolds.
"We aren't match fit, but that will come with time on the job," said Clark. "We had some good moments, but we lacked accuracy and were unproductive all the way around at the breakdown. Very few secondary phases began with a well-recycled possession."
Humboldt State Recap
The Lumberjacks from Humboldt State, runners-up in last year's Division II final, used stingy defense and relentless hustle to keep pace with Cal in the opening 10 minutes of both halves.
The Bears created their first of 10 tries with the tandem play of back-line seniors Ryan Donnelly and Chase Brogan, as Donnelly fed Brogan after a Cal lineout from inside the Humboldt State 22. David Poettcker converted one of his six conversions on the day to make the score 7-0.
Donnelly kept the Lumberjacks on their heels all afternoon from his inside center position. "We want to get the defense backpedaling and us going forward," the returning All-American said. "As long as we get behind them, we are in good position to capitalize."
After Humboldt State penetrated Cal's 22 for the first time of the match, the Golden Bears launched one of their many counter-attacks on the day. Sophomore left wing Scott Kidd finished the flourish with a try in the left corner at the 21-minute mark.
Junior Ryan Miller visited the try zone seven minutes later from his position on the right wing. Poetteker, a junior starting at flyhalf, went over five minutes later for the first of his three tries on the afternoon. Miller scored his second of the day later in the second half after a 60-meter scramble by sophomore fullback Connor O'Brien.
Humboldt State found the try zone for its only points of the match after a blind-side attack off a lineout ended with the Lumberjacks' flanker flopping into the left corner. The score came shortly after the Bears made three substitutions that may have left them temporarily flat-footed.
Fresh off the sidelines, senior replacement Rob Weedon returned the momentum to Cal's favor seven minutes later with a second-phase try after another penetrating dash by O'Brien. The fullback wound up the scoring with a try of his own from 30 meters after freshman Julian Snellgrove cleaned up a loose ball for the Bears.
"The Bears are never unprepared, even if it's the first game of the season," said Humboldt State coach Jude Temple. "We were really aggressive in our defense until we got a little tired, a little lazy in the second half. It was a good test for us."
The Bears, on the other hand, certainly did not ace their first test of the season. Cal must work hard to improve for next weekend, when it travels to Los Angeles for a UCLA Tournament that features every member university of the Pac-10.
The Scoring Timeline vs. Humboldt State:
08:00 Chase Brogan 5, David Poettcker 2
21:00 Scott Kidd, David Poettcker 2
28:00 Ryan Miller, David Poettcker 2
33:00 David Poettcker 5, 2
36:00 David Poettcker 5, 2
Half Time: California 35, Humboldt State 0
45:00 Chris Biller 5
49:00 David Poettcker 5
55:00 Ryan Miller 5, David Poettcker 2
62:00 Humboldt State 5
69:00 Rob Weedon 5
75:00 Connor O'Brien 5
Final Score: California 62, Humboldt State 5
The Team vs. Humboldt State:
15. O'Brien, 14. Miller, 13. Brogan (Youkabaitis @ 75:00), 12. Donnelly (Weedon @ 59:00), 11. Kidd, 10. Poettcker, 9. Johnson, 1. Barrett, 2. Biller, 3. Dorosti, 4. Jesseman, 5. Stanfill, L. (Snellgrove @ 59:00), 6. Smith, T., 7. Welch (Sehr @ 59:00), 8. Lindsey©
Cal Maritime Recap
A largely frosh/soph starting XV for Cal notched important experience as conditions grew chillier in the second match of Saturday's season-opening double-header, a 60-5 victory over California Maritime Academy.
Sophomore Ryan Harris had a busy afternoon at the right wing, scoring three first-half tries. Harris and opposite winger Dustin Watson's electric play on the outside was mirrored inside by first-year player Eric Fry, who kept the Keelhaulers in check and scored a second-half try of his own from the #8 position.
Whenever play became hectic, fullback Dorian Pieracci kept Cal's cool by herding Maritime's kicks and returning them deep into the Cal Maritime half of the field.
The Cal Maritime side maintained its intensity throughout the match and was rewarded in the 74th minute when the Keelhaulers' fullback filled a gap off a set piece and barreled over the try line, setting off a celebration on the visitors' sideline.
Keelhaulers coach Edward Roberts called it "a privilege that we test ourselves against the best team in the country. We've got to get more accustomed to the nuances of the game and our standard will rise. We did a few things today that will take us in the right direction."
The Scoring Timeline vs. Cal Maritime:
06:00 Ryan Harris 5
19:00 Ryan Harris 5
23:00 Ryan Harris 5, Ron Yokubaitis 2
27:00 Dustin Watson 5
30:00 Dorian Pieracci 5
39:00 Colin Hawley 5, Ron Yokubaitis 2
Half Time: California 34, Cal Maritime 0
42:00 Dustin Watson 5
46:00 Barron Vaught 5, Ron Yokubaitis 2
61:00 Clive Burrows 5, Ron Yokubaitis 2
74:00 Cal Maritime 5
76:00 Eric Fry 5, Zak Triplett 2
Final Score: California 60, Cal Maritime 5
The Team vs. Cal Maritime:
15. Pieracci©, 14. Harris, 13. Hawley, 12. Yokubaitis (Busch @ 71:00), 11. Watson (Lopez @ 48:00), 10. Triplett, 9. Lee (Wright @ 17:00) (Lee @ 23:00) (Burrows @ 48:00), 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Kuhns (King @ 48:00), 3. Kilroy, 4. Vaught, 5. Snellgrove, 6. Balough, 7. Reed (Keady @ 48:00), 8. Fry
