RUGBY5/31/2015 12:21 AM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Sweeps CRC Pool A, Faces Michigan in Quarters

Full Results and Event Info

PHILADELPHIA – The Golden Bears swept their pool Saturday at the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship at PPL Park, beating Boston College, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech by the combined score of 84-17 to earn the top overall seed in Sunday's championship rounds, which pit No. 1 California against No. 8 Michigan in a 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT quarterfinal.

The winner of Cal vs. Michigan will face the Navy/ Life winner in a 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT semifinal on NBC Sports Network. The semifinal survivors will square off at 5:25 p.m. ET/2:25 p.m. PT in the championship final on NBC.

“Cup finals day is always the same,” said head coach Jack Clark of Sunday's schedule. “There are always three difficult opponents, if you're good enough and fortunate enough to keep winning.”

“We're going to have to go out there, get better every game and keep competing,” said co-captain Alec Gletzer of the pathway to what would be Cal's third straight national 7s title if it can run the table again on Sunday. ”Hopefully, at the end of the day tomorrow, we'll be in the right place.”

Fellow co-captain Jake Anderson added, “It's going to take an equal if not if not more effort than it's ever taken before.”

The Bears began their CRC on Saturday with a five-try victory over Boston College, beating the Eagles, 33-5, after answering the opening score by BC's John Greeley with tries by Gletzer, Miles Honens, Nicklas Boyer, Anthony Salaber and Jesse Milne, and conversions by Anderson (3-of-4) and Boyer (1-for-1).

Against Notre Dame, Battaglia and Honens each scored two of the Bears' seven tries, with the others notched by James Kondrat, Milne and Patrick Barrientes in a 39-5 win. Touchline conversion kicks proved difficult to slot, as Cal was a combined 2-of-7 against the Irish (Anderson 1-of-5, Boyer 1-of-2). The Irish try was scored in the fourth minute by Luc Joseph.

In their third match of the day, the Bears met Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech in a match broadcast on NBC. A national audience saw Cal record first-half tries by Battaglia and Paul Bosco, the latter converted by Anderson (1-of-2), before the Hokies got onto the scoreboard with a try by Zach Schiemann that was converted by Paul Caron in ninth minute.

Anderson was yellow-carded for tackling a man before he got the ball during Virginia Tech's scoring sequence, sending him to the sideline for a tense two minutes during which the Blue and Gold held firm defensively in their shorthanded situation. After Anderson's return, the Bears ran out the clock to win the match, 12-7, and finish the day unbeaten.

“Playing through that two minutes with a man down was pretty big,” said head coach Jack Clark. “That's a big field to cover with seven guys. When it gets to six, it grows exponentially. That was a real challenge.”

The Scoring Timeline vs. Boston College

01:00 Boston College (John Greeley) 5

05:00 Alec Gletzer 5

06:00 Miles Honens 5, Jake Anderson 2

07:00 Nicklas Boyer 5, Jake Anderson 2

Halftime Score: California 19, Boston College 5

10:00 Anthony Salaber 5, Jake Anderson 2

12:00 Jesse Milne 5, Nicklas Boyer 2

Finale Score: California 33, Boston College 5

The Team vs. Boston College

1. Okusi, 2. Gletzer, 3. A. Salaber, 4. Boyer, 5. Anderson, 6. Milne, 7. Honens

Replacements: Barrientes, Bosco, Kondrat