BERKELEY — California advanced to the national semifinals with a 61-16 win over Arizona in the West Region quarterfinals Saturday on Witter Rugby Field.
 
The Golden Bears face Saint Mary's College in the West Region national semifinal April 27 in Moraga, Calif. The Gaels defeated Brigham Young, 71-12, in the second West Region quarterfinal Saturday in Strawberry Canyon.
 
In the first West Region elimination match of the day Saturday, the Wildcats got two early penalty kicks from flyhalf Robert Figley and two late tries from hooker Zachary Biggs, but the Bears ran away with 11 total tries after taking the lead at minute 24 on the second try from fullback Troy Lockyear.
 
An error-prone first 20 minutes had spotted Arizona its 6-0 lead before the Bears settled down to run in five tries before halftime and eight tries unanswered into the second half. Freshman Nathan Zylstra also scored two tries, the second converted by fellow freshman Sam Walsh (3-for-5).
 
"It was a physical battle and our mistakes were our biggest problem," said Zylstra, who played all 80 minutes at hooker. "Personally as a freshman, I'm thankful to start in a quarterfinal."
 
Zylstra's start gave hooker Jack Manzo a rest on Saturday, while freshman Max Murphy's start at lock gave Sebastian Bader a rest and Owen Duvall's starting nod at prop offered a break to incumbent starter Jack Iscaro. On the wing, Adam Roeske did well in his start as Marcus Shankland took a breather, and Cal got good contributions from locks Ben Casey and Sam Golla when they came in as replacements.
 
The Bears appeared to be rolling in the second half until minute 54, when captain Nic Mirhashem received a yellow card for tackling a man without the ball. Minutes later, with Cal under caution, Murphy was penalized at the lineout for a second card, leaving the Bears with only 13 players on the field. Arizona's Biggs scored his first try during the Wildats' two-man advantage and his second with Cal still stuck at 14 players with Muphy in the bin.
 
"Too many penalties, too many turnovers, which gave them too many opportunities," said wing Sam Cusano. "Once we got more possession, we looked good."
 
"Obviously advancing is the objective, but we hoped to play better," said head coach Jack Clark. "We were good in spurts and not so good in other spells. No doubt, Arizona deserves credit, but we will need an improved performance in a week's time."
 
Across the nation in the East Region of the national quarterfinals at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Life beat Navy, 40-25, while Lindenwood edged Arkansas State, 22-18, to set up the East Region national semifinal between the Running Eagles and Lions April 27 in Lugo Stadium in Marietta, Ga.
 
Kickoff is 12 p.m. PT for the Cal-SMC semifinal, setting up the second meeting of the spring between the Bears and Gaels following Cal's 29-19 win over SMC to end the regular season on March 30.
 
Following the April 27 national semifinals, the National Collegiate Championship final is May 4 in Stevens Stadium at Santa Clara University. Both semifinals and the championship will air on CBS Sports Network.
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. Arizona
 
05:00 Arizona (Robert Figley) 3
 
18:00 Arizona (Robert Figley) 3
 
21:00 Troy Lockyear 5
 
24:00 Troy Lockyear 5
 
28:00 Nic Mirhashem 5
 
31:00 Henry Poon 5
 
40:00 Nathan Zylstra 5
 
Halftime Score: California 25, Arizona 6
 
44:00 Sam Cusano 5
 
48:00 Christian Dyer 5
 
58:00 Adam Roeske 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
65:00 Arizona (Zachary Biggs) 5
 
68:00 Nathan Zylstra 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
72:00 Arizona (Zachary Biggs) 5
 
74:00 Sam Golla 5
 
80:00 Ken Kurihara 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
Final Score: California 61, Arizona 16
 
The Team vs. Arizona
 
15.Lockyear (E. Webb @ 47:00), 14. Cusano, 13. Dyer, 12. Andrade, 11. A. Roeske, 10. E. Webb (Walsh @ 47:00), 9. Poon, 1. Duvall, 2. Zylstra, 3. Wiley (Joyce @ 62:00), 4. Salter, 5. Murphy, 6. Spradling, 7. Mirhashem (Severance @ 65:00), 8. Heaney (Casey @ 56:00)