April 21, 2007
BERKELEY -
The Golden Bears advanced to the Round of 8 on Saturday with their 51-3 victory over New Mexico in the national playoffs at Witter Rugby Field. California will face San Diego State at 2 p.m. tomorrow, with the winner advancing to the national semifinals on May 4.
Cal outside center Colin Hawley scored the first of his two tries in the 20th minute to break a 3-3 tie, and it was all Bears from there, with the sophomore's second try at minute 73 wrapping up the scoring timeline. "They ran hard and tackled hard," Hawley said of UNM.
"It was an abject lesson in rugby," said Lobos head coach Ian Jones. "We came second in every aspect of play. I was proud of our lads, they tackled their hearts out, but we won no ball at all, which surprised me. We're a better side than that and hopefully we can improve for tomorrow." New Mexico will play Harvard at noon Sunday in the Pool A consolation game.
San Diego State came back from a four-point deficit to win its Round of 16 match vs. Harvard, piling on 36 unanswered points in the second half to set up tomorrow's match against Cal. The Aztecs and Bears have not played each other in recent years, but both teams have battled before in the national playoffs. San Diego State defeated the Bears en route to winning the 1987 national championship. The Bears returned the favor the following season, beating the Aztecs on the road to the 1988 national title.
BYU defeated Cal Poly in the final match of the day by a score of 33-3 to secure a semifinal slot.
Round of 16, Saturday Summary
Pool A (Berkeley):
Cal 51, New Mexico 3
San Diego State 46, Harvard 14
Pool B (Berkeley)
Wyoming 29, Minnesota 5 (consolation)
BYU 33, Cal Poly 3 (semifinal qualifier)
Pool C (Penn State):
Tennessee 41, Purdue 22 (consolation)
Penn State 33, Utah 25 (semifinal qualifier)
Pool D (Penn State):
Army 81, Clemson 10 (consolation)
Navy 24, St. Mary's 17 (semifinal qualifier)
Tomorrow's Games
(all times Pacific)
Pool A (Berkeley):
Harvard vs. New Mexico, noon (consolation)
Cal vs. San Diego State, 2 p.m. (semifinal qualifier)
The Scoring Timeline vs. New Mexico:
04:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3
07:00 New Mexico 3
20:00 Colin Hawley 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
25:00 Eric Fry 5
29:00 Chris Biller 5
39:00 Connor O'Brien 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
Half Time: California 27, New Mexico 3
45:00 Louis Stanfill 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
50:00 Ross Biestman 5
56:00 Ross Biestman 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
73:00 Colin Hawley 5
Final Score: California 51, New Mexico 3
The Team vs. New Mexico:
15. O'Brien, 14. Lee, 13. Hawley, 12. Stevens (Busch @ 60:00), 11. Kidd, 10. Engelbrecht ©, 9. Triplett, 1. Wilhelmy (Strack @ 53:00), 2. Biller (Kuhns @ 53:00), 3. J. Barrett, 4. Fry (Vaught @ 55:00), 5. Jesseman, 6. Balough, 7. Biestman (Keady @ 60:00), 8. Stanfill (Law @ 53:00)
