For a team with high standards, perfection is hard to come by. But in Monday night’s 100-0 win over Penn State at Witter Rugby Field, the Bears continued their unbeaten streak with one of their most complete performances of the season.
Senior wing Josh Tucker scored five tries for the Bears (14-0, 3-0 in the PAC Rugby Conference), four of which came in the second half, to lead Cal to an emphatic win over the Nittany Lions.
“This is a glimpse of our potential as a team,” said Cal coach Jack Clark. “I am ecstatic about our performance.”
The turning point of the match came after Cal already had a 17-0 lead. Off of a Bears’ miscue, the Nittany Lions possessed the ball inside Cal’s territory. Then senior lock Danny Barrett received a yellow card, forcing Cal to play down a man down on defense.
But the Bears’ held and retained possession. Now on offense, they drove down the field into Penn State’s territory. Still down a man, Cal inside center Jared Braun forced his way through the Nittany Lions’ defense, and as he was being tackled, he tossed the ball to outside center Seamus Kelly who scored the try. After a conversion by Jake Anderson, the Bears took the 24-0 lead, and did not look back.
“I was pleased at that point,” Clark said. “We played good defense. There were a couple of times where we had to defend our goal line, to protect that shutout, and I am really happy those guys had that kind of pride that they wanted to protect their shutout.”
In addition to a strong offensive and defensive performance, Anderson finished the night 11-for-15 on conversions. He also converted a penalty kick in the first half.
The only major negative out of Monday night’s win for the Bears was that for the second match in a row a player had to be taken off the field with a serious leg injury. On Saturday, the Bears lost scrumhalf Paul Bosco, and on Monday night, senior wing Anthony Lombardo was injured and had to leave on a stretcher.
Stephen Hobbs covers rugby. Contact him at [email protected]