BERKELEY – California rugby was outscored five tries to four by Saint Mary's in the National Semifinals match. The final score was 26-35 in the Saturday afternoon contest.
 
"Oh man, I'm disappointed for our boys, it was the wrong day to have a poor start" head coach Jack Clark said. "We had the belief that we could climb back into the match at halftime and at 26-28 we had done just that; however, we just dug too deep of a hole in the first half. Credit to Saint Mary's for their performance. It is great that Army is in the final, it should be a good rugby match."
 
Saint Mary's struck first in the match, with a try in the second minute. They scored three more times in the first half and successfully converted all four tries to collect 28 points in the first half. Senior Marcus Shankland managed a try in the last minute of the half to put Cal on the board and bring the halftime score to 5-28.
 
The Bears came out strong in the second half, collecting three more tries and only allowing the Gaels to score once more in the contest. Sophomore prop Emilio Shea scored in the 47th minute, the first of the three tries. Fellow sophomore Will Shankland kept up the momentum for the Bears crossing the try line just three minutes later. Senior captain Sam Golla scored Cal's final try of the match in the 57th minute. Junior Nate Salter successfully converted all three tries in the second half. Saint Mary's scored once more in the 60th minute to defeat the Bears 35-26.
 
With the loss, Cal finishes the 15s season with an overall record of 13-1. The Bears bring back a wealth of talent next year, including fullback Max Schumacher and center Will Shankland. The student-athletes will now turn their focus to the remainder of the academic semester in Berkeley.
 
Scoring Timeline
Cal 26, SMC 35
2:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
9:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
22:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
25:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
40:00 – Marcus Shankland 5
Halftime: Cal 5, SMC 28
47:00 – Emilio Shea 5, Nate Salter 2
50:00 – Will Shankland 5, Nate Salter 2
57:00 – Sam Golla 5, Nate Salter 2
60:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
 
Starters vs Saint Mary's:
1. Emilio Shea 2. Jack Manzo 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Sam Golla 5. Max Murphy 6. Jake Broekhuizen 7. Nathan Zylstra 8. Luke Freeman 9. Henry Poon 10. Nate Salter 11. Marcus Shankland 12. Nick Bloom 13. Will Shankland 14. Max Clark 15. Max Schumacher
 
Substitutions:
41:00 – Tom Dixon
60:00 – Seth Purdey