Jan. 30, 2010

BERKELEY - The battle for the Scrum Axe drew a capacity crowd on Saturday to Witter Rugby Field, where the California Golden Bears won the annual rivalry match with the Stanford Cardinal and ran their streak of matches without yielding a try to 11 with a 99-0 victory.

"We were pretty on it in the first half," said senior match-day captain Colin Hawley. "Stanford really brought the effort in the second half. Once we were stuck in our end, we jumped back on it. Defense is paramount. On the goal line, not giving up a try - we're building on that."

"Cal's such a great program," said Stanford head coach Chris O'Brien, a former assistant coach with the Bears. "They play the brand of rugby that everybody wants to play. We just ran into a buzz saw and we'll just get on with our season. My guys never gave up and that's the main thing. They learned a lesson. They just played against the best."

The Bears' 14 tries included a pair each from Hawley, Dustin Muhn, Danny Barrett and Tom Rooke, and a hat trick from freshman Seamus Kelly.

"Seamus stepping in and playing an unbelievable game, he's got a great future here," said flyhalf Keegan Engelbrecht, who started the scoring with a 38-meter penalty kick, notched a try of his own and connected on 13-of-14 conversion attempts.

Hawley displayed a nice piece of skill with his first try, kicking ahead, chipping again into the try zone and dotting down for his first score, then taking an offload from Kelly after a big burst from the freshman for his second. But Kelly kept the ball on several prior and subsequent sequences to thrill the crowd with his three tries.

"It's such an honor to be a part of this rivalry," said the freshman from New York City. "I can't even describe how excited I was. This atmosphere is unbelievable. I love it."

The Bears will embark on a six-match road trip next weekend when they travel to Chico State to continue local play. A midweek match at Cal Maritime follows before California travels to the Las Vegas Invitational, where the Bears will face Western Washington and San Diego State on Friday, Feb. 12, followed by Minnesota on Saturday, Feb. 13.

A local-play showdown at UC Davis on Saturday, Feb. 20, concludes the team's itinerary before it returns home to host the University of British Columbia in the first meeting of the two-match series known as the "World Cup."

The Scoring Timeline:

03:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3

05:00 Danny Barrett 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

08:00 James Besser 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

12:00 Tom Rooke 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

15:00 Seamus Kelly 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

17:00 Eric Fry 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

20:00 Tom Rooke 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

24:00 Dustin Muhn 5

28:00 Colin Hawley 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

34:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 5, 2

Halftime: California 64, Stanford 0

43:00 Seamus Kelly 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

72:00 Colin Hawley 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

74:00 Dustin Muhn 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

80:00 Seamus Kelly 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

88:00 Danny Barrett 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

Final Score: California 99, Stanford 0

The Team vs. Stanford:

15. Bailes, 14. Muhn, 13. Hawley © (Richter @ 87:00), 12. Kelly, 11. Scully (Lombardo @ 41:00), 10. Engelbrecht, 9. Mase (Ring @ 87:00), 1. Deterding (Law @ 41:00), 2. N. Barrett, 3. Besser, 4. D. Hyjer (Daly @ 68:00), 5. Fry, 6. Asbun (Burrows @ 77:00), 7. Rooke (Kelley @ 79:00), 8. D. Barrett