BERKELEY – After four straight road matches, California rugby returns to the friendly confines of Strawberry Canyon on Saturday to host top-ranked and defending national champion Navy for a regular season contest. The Golden Bears and Midshipmen will kick off at 12 p.m. PST at Witter Rugby Field in a game that will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
 
Saturday's match will be Cal's annual homecoming celebration and national champions reunion. The Bears welcome back all rugby alumni to Strawberry Canyon and will celebrate the anniversaries of its national championship teams in five-year increments. The championship squads being honored this year are the Golden Bears from 1994, 1999, 2004 and the national sevens champions from 2014.
 
Cal and Navy last met last May in the national title match hosted at Aveva Stadium in Houston. It was a close contest in which the Bears scored three tries by Kealan O'Connell, Emilio Shea and Joe Kirsten – all of whom remain on the Cal roster this year – and former co-captain Max Schumacher went 2-for-3 on conversions and had a penalty kick. The Mids put up four converted tries to outscore the Bears 28-22 and clinch the program's first-ever championship title. Eleven of Cal's first 15 from the match returned to the Bears' roster this year in addition to two key reserve players.
 
Navy last made the trip to Berkeley on April 21, 2018 for the D1A quarterfinals. Cal beat Navy 33-27 with six tries scored by as many different players and one penalty kick to take down the Mids and advance to the national semifinals. Cal would go on to defeat Lindenwood in the semifinals to earn a spot in the title match against Life. Cal's try scorers in the contest included alums Christian Dyer and Jack Iscaro, who are now capped U.S. internationals on the USA Eagles XV's side.
 
Navy (13-0, 7-0 Rugby East) is unbeaten this season, posting notable wins over ranked opponents Life (20-14), Army (32-21) and Mount St. Mary's (32-20). The Mids were defeated 36-14 by a Trinity College Dublin side in a home exhibition.
 
Cal (9-2, 3-0 PAC) went 3-1 on its recent road swing, taking victories over Arizona (85-10), Grand Canyon (47-7) and Utah (69-22) and dropping its most recent outing at Army 27-14. The Bears are looking to bounce back from a tough road loss, with an experienced squad expected to take the pitch on Saturday.
 
Senior co-captains Charlie Walsh and Alex Aguero will lead the forwards in what is sure to be a competitive match with the Mids. Senior starting lock Tom Dixon, who has been unavailable the last three weeks due to injury, is hopeful to rejoin the second row to bolster Cal's engine room.
 
Sophomore halfback duo of scrumhalf Solomon Williams and flyhalf Rand Santos will likely go unchanged. Williams and Santos have made four starts as a pair in the No. 9 and No. 10 positions, respectively, for the Bears this season.
 
Senior co-captain Will Shankland will continue in his strong leadership of the backs while wearing the No. 13 shirt. He is likely to be coupled with standout sophomore Max Threlkeld at inside center for the fifth time this season. Cal's backline is also expected to remain the same, with the Bears' leading try scorer Kirsten anticipated to feature on the wing and leading points scorer O'Connell likely to retain the fullback position.
 
Prior to the matchup with Navy, the Bears will contest a reserve-grade match with the Saint Mary's reserves. Kickoff will be at 9:30 a.m. at Witter Rugby Field and the contest will be aired live on the Pac-12 Network. It will be a busy day in Strawberry Canyon with a Cal softball game scheduled to take place at Levine-Fricke field at 3 p.m., and fans should plan accordingly to ensure they secure parking spots.
 
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