April 22, 2007

BERKELEY - California jumped out to a 57-0 halftime lead and advanced to the national semifinals with a 78-0 thrashing of San Diego State in the final game of the Round of 8 at Witter Rugby Field on Sunday. The Golden Bears will play Navy May 4 at Stanford, with the winner facing either BYU or Penn State in the national championship the next day.

"We talked about coming out hard, really hitting it right away and then playing the full 80 minutes," said Kevin Kroll, a junior graduating early who joined seniors Ross Biestman, Garrett Cross, Brendan Wright, Chase Brogan and Ryan Miller in their last match on Witter Rugby Field. "Both sides had lots of fans out here and it was a great atmosphere. You really can't ask for a better atmosphere to go out on your home field. It was a good way to get ready for the final four."

The stands were stocked with San Diego State fans and the Aztecs did not disappoint with their effort through the final whistle. SDSU was reaching deep in its attempt to break the shutout when Colin Hawley intercepted a pass in the 67th minute and raced 80 meters the other way for a try.

"We came a long way this year and it means a lot," said Aztecs head coach Dan Payne. "These guys put their hearts and souls into it, they worked their butts off and did some amazing things, and that's why it hurts. We're losing a few key seniors but there are a lot guys coming back. I wouldn't trade this group of kids for anything."

Flanker Rikus Pretorius scored a hat trick and Cross and Hawley each had a brace for the Bears. Fullback Chris Gurecki had a busy day with the tee following each of Cal's 12 tries, connecting on nine conversion attempts.

Cal now sets out to prepare for its semifinal matchup against Navy, a rematch of last year's Round of 8 battle, which Cal won 29-12.

"Ever since I've been here we've played Navy in one round or another, so it'll be a good matchup," said No. 8 Louis Stanfill.

In the consolation match preceding the quarterfinal, New Mexico defeated Harvard 37-10.

The Scoring Timeline vs. San Diego State:

05:00 Rikus Pretorius 5, Chris Gurecki 2

09:00 Dustin Muhn 5

12:00 Ryan Harris 5, Chris Gurecki 2

15:00 Brendan Wright 5, Chris Gurecki 2

19:00 Rikus Pretorius 5, Chris Gurecki 2

27:00 Colin Hawley 5

31:00 Garrett Cross 5, Chris Gurecki 2

37:00 Rikus Pretorius 5

39:00 Chase Brogan 5, Chris Gurecki 2

Half Time: California 57, San Diego State 0

53:00 Chris Biller 5, Chris Gurecki 2

67:00 Colin Hawley 5, Chris Gurecki 2

77:00 Garrett Cross 5, Chris Gurecki 2

Final Score: California 78, San Diego State 0

The Team vs. San Diego State

15. Gurecki, 14. Muhn, 13. Hawley (L. Watson @ 74:00), 12. Golding, 11. Harris (Miller @ 76:00), 10. Brogan © (Kenny @ 55:00), 9. Wright (Mase @ 74:00), 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Biller (King @ 74:00), 3. Kroll, 4. Fry, 5. Cross, 6. Biestman, 7. Pretorius (Rooke @ 61:00), 8. Stanfill (Pretorius @ 61:00, Law @ 70:00)