May 4, 2007

STANFORD - California punched its ticket to the collegiate championship game with a nine-try effort to beat Navy 63-31 in Friday's first semifinal. Brigham Young beat Penn State 53-12 in the second semi to set up tomorrow's 5:00 p.m. title rematch at Steuber Rugby Stadium.

The Golden Bears asserted themselves early to build a 41-10 halftime lead with a roster featuring four sophomores and a freshman in midfield. First-year fullback Sean Gallinger opened the scoring when he filled in the line and took a pass from inside center Dustin Watson. Keegan Engelbrecht showed the poise needed to direct traffic from flyhalf, and when play broke down at in the 57th minute and he found himself being rushed by five Middies outside Navy's 22, the sophomore kicked Cal's first drop-goal of the season. Fellow sophomore Colin Hawley also scored a try as eight Bears found the try zone. Junior wing Jason Lee scored twice for the Bears.

The Midshipmen found their groove to match Cal almost point for point in the second half, battling to a 22-21 tally in the final 40 minutes, meaning coach Jack Clark and the Bears will be focused on delivering of a complete, 80-minute performance tomorrow to put them over the top for the 23rd national championship in school history.

"We tightened it up in the second half and played a little bit better defense, slowed them down a little bit but not a lot," said Navy head coach Mike Flanagan. "They're just too good of a football team. They're very complete, and if you let them have space, they'll go right after you. They represent their school very well. But the Midshipmen from Annapolis will continue to come at them every chance we get."

"You want to come out and make a mark early," said Engelbrecht, who was 5-for-8 on conversions and added a penalty goal for 16 total points. "We need to improve, but I thought we were all on the same page for the most part."

In the weekend's back-to-back match scenario, health is always a concern, and Cal escaped without any significant knocks on Saturday. "We came out injury-free, so we're ready to go tomorrow," said hooker Chris Biller.

"That first half, we played the way we want to play. I just wish we would have had an 80-minute effort," said Cal's match-day captain, No. 8 Louis Stanfill.

Tomorrow against the Cougars, Stanfill and the Bears will have a chance to leave such an effort on the pitch if Cal is to exit with the national championship.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Navy:

09:00 Sean Gallinger 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

11:00 Zak Triplett 5

14:00 Louis Stanfill 5

16:00 Colin Hawley 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

20:00 Navy 5

22:00 Chris Biller 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

35:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3

37:00 Navy 5

40:00 Paul Jesseman 5

Half Time: California 41, Navy 10

41:00 Jason Lee 5

57:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3

60:00 Navy 5, 2

64:00 Barron Vaught 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

72:00 Navy 5, 2

77:00 Navy 5, 2

80:00 Jason Lee 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

Final Score: California 63, Navy 31

The Team vs. Navy:

15. Gallinger, 14. Lee, 13. Hawley (Pieracci @ 59:00), 12. D. Watson, 11. Kidd, 10. Engelbrecht, 9. Triplett, 1. Wilhelmy (Strack @ 53:00, Besser @ 56:00, Strack @ 66:00), 2. Biller (King @ 53:00), 3. J. Barrett, 4. Fry (Vaught @ 53:00), 5. Jesseman, 6. Balough (Sehr © @ 59:00), 7. Biestman (Keady @ 65:00), 8. Stanfill © (Balough @ 59:00)