BERKELEY – The west region No. 1 California rugby team claimed a 74-45 victory over No. 5 Arizona to advance to the 2025 D1A National Collegiate Championship Semifinals. The Golden Bears tallied 11 tries, led by wingers Joe Kirsten and Masi Koi who each recorded a hat trick in the contest.
 
"We thank Arizona for the match and wish them a safe return home," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "I'm grateful our team gets to keep working at this."  
 
The match was scoreless through the first eight minutes of play until freshman center Filip Edstrom kicked a beautiful 50-22 to set up a Cal lineout. The Bears recovered the ball in the air and sent it to Koi who skipped through a small gap and dotted down in the tryzone. Edstrom added the extras to give Cal a lead it would never relinquish.
 
Moments later, a high tackle by Arizona set up a penalty kick which Edstrom converted to extend the lead. It only took one minute for Cal to score again, this time recovering the ball from a defensive lineout and sending it through hands to see Kirsten touch it down in the corner.
 
Cal was awarded a penalty try at the 19th minute and at minute 22 Arizona got on the board with a penalty try of their own, which would be their only points of the first half. Koi ran in another score at minute 25, and Kirsten intercepted a Wildcat pass to run in his second try of the day five minutes later. Edstrom converted both scores before adding a try of his own at the 38th minute.
 
The Bears took a 41-7 lead into the break and substituted halfback duo Solomon Williams and Rand Santos shortly after the restart, before calling in the rest of their reserves to finish out the second half.   
 
Cal struck early in the second period with senior David Hause breaking free on a good run to get the ball to the line before senior captain Charlie Walsh picked it from a ruck and scored.
 
The Wildcats worked their way into scoring position and capitalized, pushing in a ball to collect five more points. Cal answered almost immediately with a try by freshman reserve Chris Biller.
 
Arizona scored back-to-back tries in minutes 54 and 59, both of which they failed to convert. After the restart, the Bears were backed up into their own territory once more, but Kirsten intercepted another Wildcat pass from Cal's 22-meter line and ran the length of the field to dot down his third try of the afternoon.
 
After the restart, the Wildcats got possession and began working their way towards the center of the field. A chip forward sent the ball bouncing towards the tryzone and Koi was the first to chase it down and tap it, but it was ruled a knock-on and Arizona touched it down before it rolled out of play to get another try on the scoreline.
 
Two minutes later, Cal was back on the attack inside Arizona territory and Koi got possession, tucking the ball to his side and racing past a few Wildcat defenders to contribute another try. A few minutes later, Kirsten had another interception and began charging towards the tryzone, this time offloading to sophomore Byron Finley in support who carried it past the goal-line unopposed.
 
Arizona stayed on it and capitalized off a few errors by Cal to log two more tries before the 80 minutes expired, but it was not enough to outscore the Bears in the end.
 
Cal will take on No. 2 Saint Mary's in the west regional finals next weekend after the Gaels beat No. 3 Central Washington in the national quarterfinals. In the east region, No. 1 Life and No. 3 Lindenwood advanced to the semifinal round.
 
 
Scoring Timeline:
Cal vs. Arizona
8:00 – Masi Koi 5, Filip Edstrom 2
11:00 – Filip Edstrom 3
12:00 – Joe Kirsten 5
19:00 – Cal Penalty Try 7
22:00 – Arizona Penalty Try 7
25:00 – Masi Koi 5, Filip Edstrom 2
30:00 – Joe Kirsten 5, Filip Edstrom 2
38:00 – Filip Edstrom 5
Half: Cal 41, Arizona 7
41:00 – Charlie Walsh 5
45:00 – Arizona 5, Arizona 2
48:00 – Chris Biller 5, Filip Edstrom 2
54:00 – Arizona 5
59:00 – Arizona 5
63:00 – Joe Kirsten 5, Filip Edstrom 2
67:00 – Arizona 5, Arizona 2
69:00 – Masi Koi 5, Filip Edstrom 2
72:00 – Byron Finley 5, Filip Edstrom 2
76:00 – Arizona 5, Arizona 2
79:00 – Arizona 5, Arizona 2
Final: Cal 74, Arizona 45
 
Starting XV:
1. Oliver Kirk 2. Cade Crist 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Seamus Deely 5. Byron Finley 6. Talan Jones 7. Bryan Bogne 8. Ieremia Ieremia 9. Solomon Williams 10. Rand Santos 11. Masi Koi 12. Mack Fell 13. Filip Edstrom 14. Joe Kirsten 15. David Hause
 
Substitutions:
Chris Biller (40:00), Jack Byszio (41:00), Cormac Saint (41:00), Broc Daily (48:00), Alex Vieira (48:00), J.P. Vinter (63:00), Talae Tuimaunei (68:00)
 
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