Jan. 19, 2008
BERKELEY - On a beautiful afternoon in Strawberry Canyon, California scored seven tries in each half to beat Stanford and keep the Scrum Axe. Nine different Golden Bears scored en route to an 82-15 victory over the Cardinal on Witter Rugby Field.
All-American Gary Golding had a hat trick for Cal and could almost be credited for another score after carrying teammate Dustin Muhn six meters into the try zone and dotting him down at minute 14. But Muhn held onto the ball and received credit for that try, his second of the match and seventh already this season. Flanker Joe Welch and lock Louis Stanfill also scored braces for the Bears.
"That's just all adrenaline," said Golding, who confirmed that his fireman's carry of Muhn was not a set play. He credited training for his final try, when he measured a squirreling loose ball, took possession on a hop, then outran and out-muscled defenders 40 meters to paydirt. "You do create your own luck, but that comes through practicing," Golding said. "The more you practice, the easier things like that can come."
Flyhalf Keegan Engelbrecht distributed the ball throughout the lineup, and when his teammates scored in the corners he was left with some difficult conversion opportunities, making only 5-of-14.
The Cardinal came to play in the latest chapter of this rivalry, keeping Cal scoreless for one 17-minute stretch and kicking a penalty at minute 26 to ensure there would be no shutout. Stanford then notched two tries in the second half, off a driving maul and a recovered squib kick, respectively, in return for their hard work.
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"We aimed to go out and have little victories in each section of phase ball, and we achieved them in a majority," said Stanford head coach Jonathan Griffin. "But it's certainly a very physical Cal side, the most physical that I've seen."
Among the physical presences on the field today for Cal was Stanfill, who saw his first collegiate action since returning from the Rugby World Cup, where he scored two tries for the U.S. National Team. "Nothing better than playing on Witter Rugby Field on a nice, sunny day with your buddies in the blue and gold," he said.
Stanfill and some Bears may have brought onto the pitch an extra chip on their shoulders due to scheduling conflicts that will once again prevent them from attending regional all-star tryouts run by coach Griffin this spring. "Tryouts for the (Pacific Coast All-Star) Grizzlies held during our finals week, is that making sure our guys don't make it?" Stanfill wondered. "I don't know, but we came out here and we played hard today. Hopefully we start getting the respect (to coordinate schedules) so some of our guys can try out for the Pacific Coast team."
In the reserve-grade contest following the First XV, Cal defeated Stanford by the score of 100-0.
Next up for Cal is a Wednesday home match against UC Santa Cruz, with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. The Bears will then travel next weekend to Los Angeles for the UCLA Tournament.
The Scoring Timeline vs. Stanford:
03:00 Colin Hawley 5
06:00 Dustin Muhn 5
10:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 5, 2
14:00 Dustin Muhn 5
21:00 Joe Welch 5
26:00 Stanford (Brad Bachelder) 3
38:00 Louis Stanfill 5
40:00 Gary Golding 5
Half Time: California 37, Stanford 3
42:00 Gary Golding 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
46:00 Stanford (Trevor Grace) 5
48:00 Chris Gurecki 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
55:00 Louis Stanfill 5
60:00 Stanford (Josiah Hall 5, Brad Bachelder 2)
67:00 Dustin Watson, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
72:00 Joe Welch
75:00 Gary Golding, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
80:00 Eduardo Lopez 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
The Team vs. Stanford:
15. Gurecki, 14. Muhn, 13. Hawley (Golding @ 43:00, L. Watson @ 76:00), 12. Golding (D. Waston @ 43:00), 11. Lopez, 10. Engelbrecht, 9. Triplett, 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Biller, 3. Besser (Estrella @ 65:00), 4. Stanfill (Vaught @ 61:00), 5. Snellgrove, 6. Welch, 7. Pretorius ©, 8. Balough
