SUNDAY KICKOFF TIMES (ALL EASTERN)
Quarterfinal vs. Arkansas State 8:20 a.m. ET
Winner vs. Arizona-Life Winner in Semifinal 11:30 a.m. ET
Championshio Final 1:30 pm. ET
TV TIMES (LIVE-TO-TAPE REPLAY)
NBCSN 2-4 p.m. ET/11 a.m.-1 p.m. PT
NBC 4-6 p.m. ET/1-3 p.m. PT
Click Here for Full Results and Schedule
PHILADELPHIA – California battled past Arkansas State, 24-12, in its last match of day one to win Pool A in a three-match sweep Saturday at the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship.
The Golden Bears, who earned the No. 2 overall seed for the championship knockout rounds, will face the No. 7-seeded Red Wolves again Sunday morning in the quarterfinals at Talen Energy Stadium.
If Cal can defeat Arkansas State again -- and do so with early game times ahead of aniticpated thunderstorms that could halt play -- it will turn around to play a semifinal against the winner of Arizona vs. Life for a chance to compete at the end of Sunday for its fourth stratight national 7s title.
The other quarterfinals on Sunday are UCLA vs. Penn State and Kutztown vs. Dartmouth.
Television coverage remains set for 2-4 p.m. ET/11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET on NBCSN and 4-6 p.m./1-3 p.m. on NBC.
It will be a tall task for the Bears to beat Arkansas State twice in two days, having had to dig deep to repel the Red Wolves in Saturday's Pool A decider. But Cal entered the 2016 CRC fully aware of the caliber of play in the 24-team field and, as defending three-time national 7s champions, the Bears are not naïve to the tasks ahead of them in their quest to become the first team to win the 7s national championship in the same year as winning the 15s title, which Cal did in May at the Varsity Cup national championship.
Before meeting the Red Wolves to conclude pool play on Saturday, the Bears took care of their other two in-house matchups, shutting out both Tennessee, 41-0, and Maryland, 31-0. All told, the Blue and Gold scored the most tries (15) and recorded the highest points total (96) of any team at the event, but were edged out of the No. 1 seed for Sunday only because of a four-point gap in points differential between Cal (+84) and top-seeded UCLA (+88).
The Rugby Bears will look to build on Saturday's outings for improved performances in the win-or-go-home setting of championship Sunday, as captain Russell Webb (two tries, 10-for-15 conversions on day one) leads the team against the best competition in American college rugby in the same form of the game that returns as a medal sport for the first time in 92 years to the Summer Olympics in Rio.
The Scoring Timeline vs. Tennessee
03:00 Harry Adolphus 5
05:00 Harry Adolphus 5, Russell Webb 2
06:00 Harry Adolphus 5, Russell Webb 2
07:00 Jesse Milne 5
Halftime Score: California 24, Tennessee 0
09:00 Russell Webb 5, 2
10:00 Harry Adolphus 5
11:00 Thomas Robles 5
Final Score: California 41, Tennessee 0
The Team vs. Tennessee
1. Robles, 2. Barrientes, 3. Salaber, 4. Webb, 5. Adolphus, 6. Milne, 7. Goena
Replacements: Kondrat, Boyer, Fuller
The Scoring Timeline vs. Maryland
02:00 Nicklas Boyer 5, Russell Webb 2
04:00 Russell Webb 5
06:00 Thomas Robles 5, Russell Webb 2
Halftime Score: California 19, Maryland 0
08:00 Miles Honens 5, Russell Webb 2
12:00 James Kondrat 5
Final Score: California 31, Maryland 0
The Team vs. Maryland
1. Robles, 2. Honens, 3. Kondrat, 4. Webb, 5. Adolphus, 6. Boyer, 7. Fuller
Replacements: Milne, Kawash
The Scoring Timeline vs. Arkansas State
02:00 Jesse Milne 5
03:00 Jake Goena 5
05:00 Jesse Milne 5, Russell Webb 2
07:00 Arkansas State (Connor Cook) 5, (Ruan Knuppel) 2
Halftime Score: California 17, Arkansas State 7
12:00 Arkansas (Zinzan Elan-Puttick 5
14:00 Patrick Barrientes 5, Russell Webb 2
Final Score: California 24, Arkansas State 12
The Team vs. Arkansas State
1. Robles, 2. Barrientes, 3. Salaber, 4. Webb, 5. Adolphus, 6. Milne, 7. Goena
Replacements: Boyer
