March 24, 2007

MORAGA, CA - California built a 24-point halftime lead that host Saint Mary's could not answer on Saturday as the Golden Bears secured the top seed in both the Pacific Region and the national playoffs with their 41-19 victory.

The Gaels gave their home crowd a lift in the fourth minute when St. Mary's outside center recovered Chase Brogan's knock-on and raced 80 meters for a 7-0 lead. But freshman Cal fullback Sean Gallinger scored the equalizer three minutes later, and Cal never looked back.

"Cal plays at such a great speed, it makes it hard for us to keep up with them," said St. Mary's head coach Tim O'Brien. "We were under the gun in the first half, and in the second half we were playing catch-up. We had some nice situations that we bumbled."

On a day when many balls were on the deck available for the hungrier team, flanker Ross Biestman and the Cal forwards asserted themselves early and often to keep--or take--possession of the ball. "As a flanker we just try to follow the ball like a dog," said Biestman. "We expected them to be strong competitors and they were just that."

One of the most entertaining sequences of the match was initiated by inside center Gary Golding in the 50th minute when he burst into space, chipped a kick over four defenders, collected the loose ball and fed it to Rikus Pretorius, who passed to Biestman for a try in the left corner. "It's something we trained on at practice, and coach Clark said I would score on this play," Golding said. "When it worked out I was happy and excited. It's always great when a plan comes together."

The Bears will spend much of spring break on the road, traveling to Vancouver next week for the second leg of the World Cup at University of British Columbia, followed by a match against Meraloma's reserve grade.

The Round of 16 commences on April 20, with Cal hosting half the action at Witter Rugby Field. The Bears will face the West Region's No. 2 seed, which is yet to be determined.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Saint Mary's:

04:00 St. Mary's 5, 2

07:00 Sean Gallinger 5, 2

18:00 Chase Brogan 5, Sean Gallinger 2

24:00 Chris Biller 5, Sean Gallinger 2

28:00 Sean Gallinger 3

33:00 Sean Gallinger 5, 2

Half Time: California 31, Saint Mary's 7

45:00 Ross Biestman 5

50:00 Ross Biestman 5

55:00 St. Mary's 5

63:00 St. Mary's 5, 2

Final Score: California 41, Saint Mary's 19

The Team vs. Saint Mary's:

15. Gallinger, 14. Lee, 13. Hawley, 12. Golding 11. Kidd, 10. Brogan ©, 9. Wright (Triplett @ 71:00), 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Biller, 3. Kroll (J. Barrett @ 61:00), 4. Fry, 5. Cross, 6. Biestman, 7. Pretorius (Balough @ 52:00), 8. Stanfill