MORAGA, Calif. – California rugby was outscored by Saint Mary's 32-14 in the Bears' only road contest of the season on Saturday afternoon.
 
"The first thing to acknowledge is we were outplayed by Saint Mary's on the day," head coach Jack Clark said. "The second thing, is we didn't do our part to make the match more competitive on the scoreboard. We had our opportunities to ring the bell, but had too many critical errors at key moments. It's all fixable, but in a three match truncated season there isn't really room for a performance you want back."
 
SMC struck first, scoring a try and a penalty kick in the first 12 minutes of the contest and ultimately outscored the Bears two tries to one in the first half. Cal's try was scored by freshman loosehead prop Charlie Walsh who managed to collect his first collegiate try in the final minute to cut the Bears' deficit to 10 (17-7) at the half. Cal had a number of scoring opportunities in the last 20 minutes of the opening 40 minutes, but was unable to capitalize. The two sides went back and forth for the first 15 minutes of the second half before SMC collected a PK and a try in the 55th and 58th minutes respectively. The Bears came through with a converted try from junior fly half Sam Walsh in the 70th-minute, but the Gaels once again outscored Cal two tries to one in the half despite several missed opportunities to score on the Bears' side in the final 20 minutes.
 
Cal later defeated SMC 54-7 in the reserve-grade game.
 
The Bears will have two weeks to prepare for their next match when they host Arizona on May 1 at Witter Rugby Field.
 
To follow Cal rugby this season, be sure to visit calbears.com/sports/mens-rugby or follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 
 
Scoring Timeline:
 
Cal 14, 32
 
9:00 SMC 3
12:00 SMC 5, SMC 2
34:00 SMC 5, SMC 2
40:00 Charlie Walsh 5, Max Schumacher 2
Halftime Score: Cal 7, SMC 17
55:00 SMC 3
58:00 SMC 5
70:00 Sam Walsh 5, Sam Walsh 2
79:00 SMC 5, SMC 2
 
Starters at SMC
1. Owen Duvall 2. Jack Manzo 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Sam Golla 5. Max Murphy 6. Nathan Zylstra 7. Jason Severance 8. Jake Broekhuizen 9. Ken Kurihara 10. Sam Walsh 11. Marcus Shankland 12. Gavin Janis 13. Seth Purdey 14. Nick Bloom 15. Max Schumacher
Substitutions:
67:00 – Mack Fell (Gavin Janis)
72:00 - Garrett Kay (Jason Severance), Max Clark (Ken Kurihara), Michael Perrone (Charlie Walsh), Alex Brundage (Max Schumacher)
75:00 –Nate Salter (Seth Purdey)