Cal Celebrates Homecoming Against Arizona - California Golden Bears Athletics

Saturday, February 25

Berkeley, CA

1:00 PM

California

Arizona

Cal and Arizona play a contest at Witter Rugby Field Saturday.

Photo by: Alex Ho / hoiho.net

2/24/2023 9:59 AM | Rugby

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Bears, Wildcats Meet For PAC Conference Contest

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – California rugby is set to play a PAC conference match with Arizona on Saturday at Witter Rugby Field. Cal welcomes back all rugby alumni to Strawberry Canyon for homecoming and will celebrate the anniversaries of its national championship teams in five-year increments. The teams being honored this season are the Golden Bears from 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2008 and the national sevens champions from 2013.

Cal (8-0) is coming off a conference win over Utah last weekend. The Bears scored 19 tries by 11 different players, including three apiece from senior Alex Brundage and sophomores Mack Fell and Joe Kirsten. Junior Charlie Walsh scored a try in his first match of the season after being out with injury for the beginning of 2023, and sophomore Kealan O'Connell went 11-for-15 on conversion attempts.

The Bears and the Wildcats last met for 15-a-side competition last February in Tucson. The Bears won the contest 94-10, putting up 14 tries, including scores from Walsh, Luke Freeman and Nate Salter. Max Schumacher logged a try and went 12-for-14 on the extras to contribute 29 points. Most recently, the two programs faced off in the fall at the PAC Rugby 7s Championships hosted at Stanford. Cal and Arizona met in the finals, with the Bears coming out on top 31-5 to win the tournament title.

This weekend, Schumacher will return to the first 15 as the fullback and captain of the squad. With his co-captain and starting flanker Nathan Zylstra out with injury, senior Cal Liebowitz will wear the No. 6 following his strong performance in the same position and as captain of the match last weekend against the Utes. The Bears will also continue to be without Max Clark and Will Shankland in the backline and lock Mats Dodd due to injury.

Senior Alex Aguero will be the No. 8, a position he has made six starts in this season for the Bears. Aguero has logged three tries this spring, including one last weekend when he had a big breakaway run, charging into the try zone from the 50-yard line to touch down a score. Making their returns to the lineup after a week off are experienced Bears Emilio Shea, who plays prop, and flanker Luke Freeman.

Freshmen duo Rand Santos and Max Threlkeld will pair as the centers in the starting lineup. It will be Threlkeld's fifth start and the sixth for Santos this season. Threlkeld is one of Cal's leading scorers in 2023 with six tries, and Santos has contributed four tries to mark impressive debut campaigns for the young Bears.

The Wildcats visit Berkeley with a 1-1 record in spring XVs, most recently coming off a 38-13 loss to BYU on Feb. 11. The week prior, Arizona hosted Utah for a conference contest where the Wildcats handed the Utes a 95-5 loss. Arizona traveled to Cal State Long Beach for a preseason friendly in January and took a 74-7 win. The team checked in at No. 11 in the February national D1A rankings.

A reserve-grade curtain-raiser match between the Bears and the Wildcats will be played at 11 a.m. PT, with the varsity match to kick off immediately after at 1 p.m. PT. A special recognition for the teams celebrating national championship anniversaries will take place at halftime during the varsity match. The gates at Witter Rugby Field will open at 10 a.m. and fans can purchase tickets here. Those unable attend in person can watch the live stream of the varsity match.

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