March 14, 2009

BERKELEY - California hung a dozen tries on UC Davis Saturday at Witter Rugby Field and kept the Aggies out of the scoring column to win, 76-0. Wing Ryan Harris had a hat trick for the Golden Bears.

Winds from the west affected the kicking game, with flyhalf Sean Gallinger missing a first-half penalty attempt from 25 meters but making a couple of tough-angled conversions in the second half with the breeze at his back.

"It was howling at times," Gallinger said. "But what we did today was run at the other team in defense and attack."

Match-day captain Jason Law agreed: "That was the thing we really wanted to work on - attack them, come with all of our force, a lot of energy. The last game we played a little flat and we wanted to turn that around."

"Cal dominated up front and in the lineout," said Aggies head coach Andy Malpass. "Having that much ball makes a big difference."

Today's Cal lineup included all three Barrett brothers once again in the forwards, with freshman Danny scoring another pair of tries, and a second set of brothers in Drew and Grant Hyjer.

Freshman Anthony Lombardo got his second consecutive start at fullback, scoring a pair for the second straight match and helping to preserve Cal's shutout with a try-saving tackle of UC Davis scrumhalf Tyler Harrison.

With local play winding down, the stage is almost set for seedings to take root in the 2009 national collegiate playoffs, with the Rounds of 16 & 8 co-hosted by the University of California on Witter Rugby Field and Life University in Atlanta April 17-19.

The Golden Bears' Pacific Region has garnered four spots in the 16-team national playoff field. Brigham Young University has already taken the No. 2 Pacific and second overall slot, pitting the Cougars against another clinched seed, Dartmouth College, the Northeast No. 2 and national No. 15 seed, in Atlanta.

Teams vying for the three remaining Pacific seeds include the Aggies, the Golden Bears (25-0) and two of Cal's next three opponents. With the Bears' win over the UC Davis Sunday and Saint Mary's road win the previous night at Nevada, next weekend's match in Moraga on Pat Vincent Field between the Bears and Gaels will be a meeting to decide the No. 1 slot in the Pacific Region.

Then, after traveling to Vancouver for the grueling rematch against British Co¬lumbia to culminate the "World Cup" series March 26, the Bears are tasked to face another Pacific Region contender, Central Washington, on its field two days later.

The No. 1 Pacific seed, also the top slot in the competition, will play the Round of 16 in Berkeley against Midwest No. 2 and No. 16 overall, which could be Bowling Green, Ohio State, Notre Dame or Indiana, among others. The No. 4 Pacific Seed also stays on the West Coast, but the team that ends up slotted at Pacific No. 3, the fourth overall seed, must face Northeast No. 1 Army, the No. 13 seed, in Atlanta.

Whoever succeeds at securing the top Pacific slot and No. 1 overall seed will face the Midwest No. 2 team at 11:30 a.m. Sat., April 18, on Witter Rugby Field. The winner advances to the Round of 8 Sunday at 1 p.m. against the winner of the No. 8/9 faceoff, which will pit Southern California No. 2 -- with San Diego State and Cal Poly strong candidates and UC Santa Barbara knocking on the door -- against West No. 2. The Air Force Falcons or Wyo¬ming Cowboys might fill that latter slot.

The four semifinalists that emerge will compete at the national champion¬ships May 1-2 at Stanford's Steuber Rugby Stadium.

The Scoring Timeline vs. UC Davis:

08:00 Ryan Harris 5

14:00 Danny Barrett 5, Sean Gallinger 2

26:00 Connor Ring 5, Sean Gallinger 2

35:00 Ryan Harris 5

Halftime: California 24, UC Davis 0

45:00 Alex Leach 5

48:00 Julian Snellgrove 5

51:00 Anthony Lombardo 5, Sean Gallinger 2

58:00 Ryan Harris 5, Sean Gallinger 2

60:00 Danny Barrett 5, Mark Richter 2

64:00 Logan Howard 5, Mark Richter 2

76:00 Anthony Lombardo 5, Mark Richter 2

80:00 Drew Hyjer 5, Mark Richter 2

Final Score: California 76, UC Davis 0

The Team vs. UC Davis

15. Lombardo, 14. Harris, 13. Howard, 12. Stevens, 11. Leach, 10. Gallinger (Richter @ 59:00), 9. Ring (Caravelli @ 59:00), 1. J. Barrett, 2. N. Barrett (G. Hyjer @ 70:00), 3. Fujimoto (Karcozoff @ 70:00), 4. Snellgrove (Casias @ 54:00), 5. D. Hyjer, 6. Law © (Witter @ 61:00), 7. Sproats, 8. D. Barrett