March 17, 2007

BERKELEY - The Golden Bears scored 64 first-half points, stacked up a total of 13 tries and yielded no points to Stanford to retain the Scrum Axe with an 83-0 shutout in front of alumni, family and fans celebrating the 125th homecoming of California Rugby on Saturday.

Four Bears notched multiple tries on the day--with two scored by Rikus Pretorius and Gary Golding, and three scored by Chris Biller and Colin Hawley--contributing to a busy day for conversion kicker Chris Gurecki, who capitalized on calm, sunny conditions to make 9-of-13 attempts. Louis Stanfill and Jason Lee also added tries, as did Dustin Muhn, who dove into the corner off a fourth-phase ruck in the ninth minute to ensure that the freshman class was represented in the scoring column.

Cal relished its opportunity to play Stanford in front of home fans and former teammates. "It's always a huge honor when you get to play in front of alumni who are part of 125 years of history," said Pretorius. "A lot of these guys graduate and go on to play for the National Team and have professional careers, so it's definitely an honor to show your stuff in front of them."

"It was really special," Gurecki concurred. "Having a fan base like this gets you pumped up, and everybody's always up for the Big Game. We kept their goose egg on the board and you've got to be happy with that."

In its second meeting of the season with the Cardinal, Cal eclipsed its previous point total in half the time. "In the first half we played really well," said senior captain Chase Brogan, who seemed more comfortable in his second start at flyhalf. "There was a lot of continuity in our game, a lot of hard work, and that's great to see."

Sustained drives by the forwards gave the backline inherent momentum when the ball spun wide, and for most of the first half, the Bears capitalized on every opportunity. "We were getting a lot of penetration, which made it easier for me to move it away quickly," said scrumhalf Brendan Wright.

Stanford showed its respect for both the game of rugby and its rivalry with Cal by putting in a full 80-minute effort and refusing to kick for points late in the first half, when a Cal penalty gave the Cardinal its best opportunity to get on the scoreboard. Rather than go for three, Stanford tapped and charged ahead, failing to score before intermission but gaining the respect of many who assumed it would opt to break the shutout with a kick.

"There's a huge amount of history and the lads are very much aware of that," said Stanford head coach Jonathan Griffin. "We came out to compete against the best in the country and there's no question, Cal is the best team in the country."

The Bears seek to avoid any letdowns as they continue local play with their second match of the season against Saint Mary's in Moraga next Saturday, followed by the rematch with University of British Columbia in Vancouver. "It's important to come out in any game and play well," said Stanfill of today's result, "but the fact that today was homecoming made it a little more special."

In the reserve-grade match that preceded the First XV, Cal beat Stanford by the score of 144-0.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Stanford:

02:00 Colin Hawley 5, Chris Gurecki 2

05:00 Chris Biller 5, Chris Gurecki 2

09:00 Dustin Muhn 5

13:00 Rikus Pretorius 5, Chris Gurecki 2

17:00 Colin Hawley 5, Chris Gurecki 2

24:00 Chris Biller 5, Chris Gurecki 2

28:00 Gary Golding 5, Chris Gurecki 2

30:00 Colin Hawley 5

33:00 Louis Stanfill 5

37:00 Gary Golding 5, Chris Gurecki 2

Half Time: California 64, Stanford 0

44:00 Chris Biller 5, Chris Gurecki 2

51:00 Rikus Pretorius 5

59:00 Jason Lee 5, Chris Gurecki 2

Final Score: California 83, Stanford 0

The Team vs. Stanford: 15. Gurecki, 14. Lee, 13. Hawley, 12. Golding (D. Watson @ 52:00), 11. Muhn, 10. Brogan © (Kenny @ 63:00), 9. Wright, 1. Wilhelmy (J. Barrett @ 25:00, Wilhelmy @ 35:00), 2. Biller (King @ 63:00), 3. Kroll (J. Barrett @ 78:00), 4. Fry, 5. Cross (Strong @ 52:00), 6. Biestman, 7. Pretorius (Sehr @ 52:00), 8. Stanfill (Balough @ 52:00)