California Golden Bears Athletics
Saturday, March 25
Berkeley, CA
12:00 PM
California
vs
Saint Mary's (California)
Cal will host a regular-season contest with Saint Mary's in Strawberry Canyon.
Photo by: Tommy Gilligan
Bears Set For Clash With Gaels
3/24/2023 12:39 PM | Rugby
Cal Hosts Saint Mary’s For Regular-Season Contest
BERKELEY – California rugby will host Saint Mary's for a regular-season match on Saturday at Witter Rugby Field. Kickoff will be at noon with the gates in Strawberry Canyon set to open at 11 a.m. PT. Fans can purchase tickets here or watch the live stream.
Cal enters the weekend with a 10-1 record in spring XVs. The Golden Bears took their only loss on March 11 to the top-ranked U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Prior to that, Cal had a five-week homestand in which the Bears went unbeaten, defeating the reigning national champions Army West Point, Grand Canyon and winning the PAC conference with victories over Arizona, Utah and UCLA.
The Bears and Gaels met twice for 15-a-side competition last year, first on March 26 when Cal took a 31-24 victory in Berkeley. Four returners this season logged points for the Bears, with co-captain Nathan Zylstra, Charlie Walsh and Emilio Shea each contributing tries and Nate Salter adding three conversion kicks.
The two teams then met in the national collegiate semifinals on April 23 at Witter Rugby Field. The Gaels took an early lead, holding a 28-5 advantage at the break, but Cal climbed back from the deficit in the second half to make it 28-26 in the 57th minute. The Gaels scored once more to extend their lead and win the contest 35-26, handing Cal its only loss of the season. Saint Mary's then advanced to the national collegiate finals where the Gaels were downed 20-8 by Army.
The Gaels visit Strawberry Canyon this weekend with an 11-3 record in spring action. Their notable fixtures this season include a 23-18 win over BYU in Moraga on March 4 and a 29-26 home loss to Central Washington on February 11. Last time out, they claimed an 83-3 road victory over San Diego State on March 18.
The Bears will likely make a handful of changes to the starting lineup Saturday. Three student-athletes – Mats Dodd, Max Clark and Joe Kirsten – may return to the first 15 after being out for several weeks due to injury. Dodd would prospectively play the No. 4 lock, while Clark and Kirsten would likely rejoin the backs as wings or the fullback.
Senior Max Schumacher will once again captain the team. Schumacher has put up a solid statistical XVs season thus far, going 36-for-48 on conversion kicks and logging two tries across the seven matches. Schumacher's 82 total points make him Cal's leading point-contributor. He was recently named one of 15 nominees for the Rudy Scholz Award, which is presented annually to the best men's collegiate rugby player nationwide.
With co-captain Zylstra ruled out, the back row will likely be unchanged with flankers Luke Freeman and Cal Liebowitz and No. 8 Alex Aguero. This will be the fourth consecutive match in which the trio of seniors makes up the back row. Prop duo Walsh and Shea should also make their eighth and fifth starting appearances, respectively.
Cal's leading try-scorer Max Threlkeld should return to the pitch wearing the No. 13 shirt. The freshman has tallied nine tries since joining the Cal squad in January and has earned a starting position seven times. Threlkeld would be joined by fellow freshman center Rand Santos, who has earned nine starts for the Blue & Gold in his debut season.
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal rugby, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalVarsityRugby), Instagram (@CalVarsityRugby) and Facebook (/CalVarsityRugby).
Cal enters the weekend with a 10-1 record in spring XVs. The Golden Bears took their only loss on March 11 to the top-ranked U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Prior to that, Cal had a five-week homestand in which the Bears went unbeaten, defeating the reigning national champions Army West Point, Grand Canyon and winning the PAC conference with victories over Arizona, Utah and UCLA.
The Bears and Gaels met twice for 15-a-side competition last year, first on March 26 when Cal took a 31-24 victory in Berkeley. Four returners this season logged points for the Bears, with co-captain Nathan Zylstra, Charlie Walsh and Emilio Shea each contributing tries and Nate Salter adding three conversion kicks.
The two teams then met in the national collegiate semifinals on April 23 at Witter Rugby Field. The Gaels took an early lead, holding a 28-5 advantage at the break, but Cal climbed back from the deficit in the second half to make it 28-26 in the 57th minute. The Gaels scored once more to extend their lead and win the contest 35-26, handing Cal its only loss of the season. Saint Mary's then advanced to the national collegiate finals where the Gaels were downed 20-8 by Army.
The Gaels visit Strawberry Canyon this weekend with an 11-3 record in spring action. Their notable fixtures this season include a 23-18 win over BYU in Moraga on March 4 and a 29-26 home loss to Central Washington on February 11. Last time out, they claimed an 83-3 road victory over San Diego State on March 18.
The Bears will likely make a handful of changes to the starting lineup Saturday. Three student-athletes – Mats Dodd, Max Clark and Joe Kirsten – may return to the first 15 after being out for several weeks due to injury. Dodd would prospectively play the No. 4 lock, while Clark and Kirsten would likely rejoin the backs as wings or the fullback.
Senior Max Schumacher will once again captain the team. Schumacher has put up a solid statistical XVs season thus far, going 36-for-48 on conversion kicks and logging two tries across the seven matches. Schumacher's 82 total points make him Cal's leading point-contributor. He was recently named one of 15 nominees for the Rudy Scholz Award, which is presented annually to the best men's collegiate rugby player nationwide.
With co-captain Zylstra ruled out, the back row will likely be unchanged with flankers Luke Freeman and Cal Liebowitz and No. 8 Alex Aguero. This will be the fourth consecutive match in which the trio of seniors makes up the back row. Prop duo Walsh and Shea should also make their eighth and fifth starting appearances, respectively.
Cal's leading try-scorer Max Threlkeld should return to the pitch wearing the No. 13 shirt. The freshman has tallied nine tries since joining the Cal squad in January and has earned a starting position seven times. Threlkeld would be joined by fellow freshman center Rand Santos, who has earned nine starts for the Blue & Gold in his debut season.
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal rugby, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalVarsityRugby), Instagram (@CalVarsityRugby) and Facebook (/CalVarsityRugby).
Players Mentioned
No. 8
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Wing/Scrumhalf
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Lock/Backrow
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No. 8
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Fullback/Wing
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Flanker
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Flyhalf
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Center/Fullback
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Fullback/Center
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Prop
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Center
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Prop
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Hooker/Flanker
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