March 26, 2008

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Golden Bears lost their first match of the season today to the University of British Columbia, 27-22, at Thunderbird Stadium. California had a 10-5 halftime lead but was outscored 22-12 in the second half and failed to find the try zone in a wild final two minutes inside the UBC 10-meter line. The five-point loss still left the Bears winners of this year's `World Cup' on the strength of the 18-point advantage they brought into the second match of the home-and-home series, keeping the Cup in Berkeley for the second straight season and nine of the past 12 years.

"The series means a lot to us and we're thankful to be able to take the Cup back to Berkeley," said Cal captain Rikus Pretorius. "But I don't think we would be the team that we are if we didn't want to win every game."

A partisan UBC crowd buoyed by the Birds' recent victory over University of Victoria enjoyed a see-saw battle with four lead changes before the Thunderbirds began their second-half push to come away with the victory. Birds flyhalf Harry Jones dotted down with five minutes to play for the winning margin.

"We're gutted," Pretorius said. "There's no lack of effort, it's just the way it turns out when two good teams meet - the outcome is always uncertain." The senior flanker scored a try and tackled T-Birds all over the field, but his and his teammates' efforts could not keep UBC at bay.

British Columbia scored first, with hooker Luke Dineley finishing a three-phase sequence in the ninth minute to put the Bears down, 5-0. No. 8 Louis Stanfill answered for the Bears five minutes later, and Keegan Engelbrecht's conversion gave Cal a 7-5 lead. Engelbrecht added a penalty kick with 10 minutes left in the first half (1-for-2) and knocked through 2-of-3 conversions before limping off for a substitute with seven minutes to play.

The Bears stole UBC's first two lineouts early in the first half, but the Thunderbirds settled down and eventually stole a couple of crucial Cal lineouts in the waning minutes of the match.

"What we really worked out was trying to simplify things in our lineout, because if you take a look at the last Cal game, we're not winning even 50 percent of our own lineouts," said UBC head coach Spence McTavish.

Rather than kick to touch and put extra pressure on their lineout, the Birds often elected to keep it in bounds when they put the ball on their feet, resulting in territorial kicks that had the Bears backpedaling and grubber kicks that had both teams dashing madly to try and secure possession. Coach McTavish said, "If we were only winning 50 percent of our lineouts, we thought if we didn't kick for touch, maybe we could move it around and get more ball."

Both teams had several line breaks deep into opposition territory that did not end in tries, including Ryan Taylor's effort late in the first half that took him all the way to the line before he was held up in goal. A missed link here and a knock-on there stymied the Bears on too many occasions.

Inside center Gary Golding upped Cal's lead to 15-5 when he kept the ball from 30 meters after a nice phase from fullback Colin Hawley and wing Dustin Muhn, but five minutes later, UBC inside center Taylor Dalziel returned the favor to keep the T-Birds close.

UBC wing Paul Spoering scored a try and made his only conversion (1-of-5) to trim Cal's lead to 17-15, then Pretorius answered for the Bears with 13 minutes to play, willing his way to score between the posts for an easier conversion and making the score 22-17 in Cal's favor. But the Thunderbirds scored two more unconverted tries to seal their win.

Playing conditions downgraded from overcast at kickoff to cold sprinkles over the final few minutes, ending with distant thunder as the Bears (20-1) boarded their bus with their first loss of the season. Their last defeat was at the hands of 2007 Rugby Super League champion Old Mission Beach Athletic Club last March on Witter Rugby Field.

"They played hard, we played hard. It was a barnburner. But glass half-full, the Cup stays in Berkeley and that's a good thing," said Stanfill, one of several seniors who saw his last collegiate match against UBC go to the Thunderbirds.

Said Cal head coach Jack Clark, "Wonderful match, tons of commitment. Congratulations to UBC for their victory. I'm pleased our boys were able to bring the Cup home."

Cal's calendar is now clear to focus on the national collegiate postseason in Albuquerque, N.M., April 18-19. The Bears' Round of 16 opponent is the Southern Region No. 2 and 16th-overall national seed, which will be the loser of the Tennessee-Arkansas State match to be played March 29 in Knoxville, Tenn. Should the Bears advance, they would play the Round of 8 April 19 against the winner of the No. 8/9 matchup, which pits the second Southern California seed against Army, the top team from the Northeast. The national semifinals and final then take place at Stanford May-2-3.

The Scoring Timeline vs. UBC:

09:00 UBC (Luke Dineley) 5

14:00 Louis Stanfill 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

30:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3

Half Time: California 10, UBC 5

48:00 Gary Golding 5

53:00 UBC (Taylor Dalziel) 5

61:00 UBC (Paul Spoering) 5, 2

67:00 Rikus Pretorius 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

70:00 UBC (Martin Urbanowiscz) 5

75:00 UBC (Harry Jones) 5

Final Score: UBC 27, California 22

The Team vs. UBC:

15. Hawley (Gallinger @ 27:00, Hawley @ 32:00), 14. Muhn, 13. L. Watson (Gallinger @ 46:00, Golding @ 73:00), 12. Golding (D. Watson @ 73:00), 11. Taylor, 10. Engelbrecht (Gallinger @ 73:00), 9. Triplett, 1. Besser, 2. King, 3. Fry, 4. Snellgrove, 5. Jesseman (Law @ 75:00), 6. Welch (Stanfill @ 70:00), 7. Pretorius ©, 8. Stanfill (Balough @ 70:00)