Three-Peat for Cal at the CRC 7s

After dominating the Collegiate 15s scene for decades, titles in recent years in the full version of rugby union have eluded the storied University of California – Berkeley rugby program. However, the Cal Bears have not been without titles as they won their third consecutive Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s tournament on Sunday at PPL Park in Philadelphia. The tournament, in its sixth year of existence, drew record crowds as the tournament notched a new high of almost 25,000 fans in attendance over the weekend.

Cal went 6-0 during the tournament to claim the title, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing as the Golden Bears were challenged in Pool play by Virginia Tech and won an overtime thriller against Kutztown in the Championship Game.

“It’s like comparing things you love,” Clark said, in a release courtesy of Cal Athletics, when asked if Sunday’s win was any better than those in the past, which include the 2013 and ’14 CRC titles in the same stadium. “I love all these guys, the guys that went before them and the guys that went before them. We work awfully hard at this and these rewards justify all that we ask of these boys, which they give so willingly for their school.”

Cal Co-Captain Jake Anderson led the way for the team over the course of the tournament and capped the run with the game-winning try in the Championship game on a 50-meter break. Anderson, who was also named Tournament MVP, scored 37 points in the CRC on three tries and 11 conversions. Andrew Battaglia led the Golden Bears in tries during the tournament with six. Mile Honens and Nicklas Boyer each added four tries apiece. It was a team effort as 11 different players crossed the line for Cal over the course of the weekend as they outscored their opponents 165-34.

In Pool play, Cal came out firing as they rolled past Boston College 33-5 and thumped Notre Dame 39-5 before a close call against Virginia Tech. The Golden Bears got on the board first and took a solid 12-0 lead into halftime against the Hokies. Virginia Tech scored just after the half to cut the score to 12-7, where the score remained.

Moving onto the knockout stage, Cal was matched up with Michigan in the Quarterfinals and quickly dispatched the Wolverines 31-0 to push them into the Semifinals against Life University. It was more of the same in the Semifinal as Cal dominated Life, coming away with a 33-5 victory and putting the side in position to take home a third straight title from the CRC.

In the Championship, Cal faced off against Kutztown University, who also have a Golden Bear as their mascot. Kutztown had to battle their way into the title match having suffered a loss in Pool play and narrowly escaping with a 19-14 win over Arizona in the Semifinals.

Kutztown was on the scoreboard first with a 4th minute try from Robert Stortz that was converted. Cal answered back about a minute later with a try from Anthony Salaber that was converted by Anderson. The score remained deadlocked at 7-7 going into halftime.

In the second half, it was Cal that got on the board first as Andrew Battaglia broke the tie. Kutztown was next to answer as they tied the match at 12-12 after a try from Alex Faison-Donahoe. Both sides had opportunities to score as the match was nearing full-time, but were unable to convert. Kutztown had the most promising opportunity, but were undone by a penalty deep in Cal territory. With the match in sudden-death overtime, it wasn’t long before Cal claimed the title when Anderson broke the Kutztown line and raced 50-meters for the winning score.

“It’s a big moment for us to get the victory and any one of the seven of us on the field could have had a moment like that,” said Anderson in a release courtesy of Cal Athletics. “Credit to the team, because it was a team effort all the way. We’ve won here before and we had experience on the field today. We had to work through all the difficult moments and that’s exactly what we did.”