BERKELEY – California rugby was edged 38-34 by Saint Mary's on Saturday afternoon at Witter Rugby Field. The Golden Bears now hold a 10-2 record in spring XVs action.
 
"Congratulations to Saint Mary's; that was a proper game of first XV rugby," Cal head coach Jack Clark said.
 
The Gaels struck first, putting back-to-back tries on the board at minutes 7 and 15, although only one was successfully converted. Cal senior No. 8 Alex Aguero answered with a try and fellow senior Max Schumacher added the extras to make it 12-7 in the 21st minute. Saint Mary's scored again to extend its advantage at minute 25 and successfully converted.
 
Junior Evan Weigold ran a score in from the right wing eight minutes later. Aguero then charged a ball in between the goalposts and Schumacher added his second conversion of the day to level the score at 19-19 in the 39th minute. Just as the half was expiring, the Gaels scored a try off of the restart and added the extras to take a 26-19 advantage at the break.
 
Cal quickly came back from the deficit and took the lead in the second half. Schumacher opted to score points off his boot, successfully adding three with a penalty kick that sailed perfectly between the uprights at the 47th minute.
 
Cal Liebowitz gave the Bears the advantage off a pick-and-go, diving into the middle of the tryzone at minute 53 and making way for Schumacher to add the extras with ease and give Cal a 29-26 lead. Schumacher scored a try of his own just four minutes later to extend that advantage to 34-26 as the final 20 minutes of the contest ensued.
 
Cal forged ahead, creating opportunities to extend its lead, but suffering from some penalty setbacks. Saint Mary's added a pair of tries in the 63rd and 66th minutes to clinch the 38-34 victory in the end.
 
"That's two matches in a row against good teams where we've had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win," Clark said. "Today, we copped some untimely penalties and had some skill breakdowns in the closing segments of the match."
 
The Bears will now turn their focus to their matchup with BYU in Provo, Utah, next week. Cal will have a quicker turnaround to its final contest of the regular season, with the match against the Cougars set for Friday at 11:30 a.m. MT / 10:30 a.m. PT.
 
"We just need to stay at it and see if we can climb to the next level of our development," Clark said. "Something good might happen if we just stay at it."
 
Scoring Timeline:
Cal vs Saint Mary's
7:00 – Saint Mary's 5
15:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
21:00 – Aguero 5, Schumacher 2
25:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
33:00 – Weigold 5
37:00 – Aguero 5, Schumacher 2
39:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
Half: Saint Mary's 26, Cal 19
47:00 – Schumacher 3
53:00 – Liebowitz 5, Schumacher 2
57:00 – Schumacher 5
63:00 – Saint Mary's 5, Saint Mary's 2
66:00 – Saint Mary's 5
Final: Saint Mary's 38, Cal 34
 
Starting XV
1. Emilio Shea 2. Cade Crist 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Mats Dodd 5. Tom Dixon 6. Luke Freeman 7. Cal Liebowitz 8. Alex Aguero 9. Solomon Williams 10. Max Schumacher 11. Max Clark 12. Rand Santos 13. Max Threlkeld 14. Evan Weigold 15. Joe Kirsten
 
Substitutions:
50:00 – Hugo Schreuder
58:00 – Matt Vranesh
64:00 – Will Shankland
68:00 – Alex Brundage
75:00 – Jon Puckett
79:00 – Mack Fell
 
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