Wall of Gaels: From left, King Matu ’24, Hunter Chuhlantseff ’23, MS ’24, Matthew Abbes ’26, and Cathal Coakley ’24 are ready to attack while UC Berkeley attempts to pass the ball. / Photo by Rebecca Harper
Men’s Rugby Defeats Cal and Is in Place to Take the No. 1 Seed Just in Time for Playoffs
In the largest outdoor Saint Mary’s Athletic event, the Gaels rally back for a spectacular 38–31 win against UC Berkeley Golden Bears. SMC has sights set on the national championship.
In the largest outdoor Saint Mary’s Athletic event, with the heavens pouring rain, the Gaels rallied back for a spectacular win against UC Berkeley Golden Bears on Saturday, March 23. The Gaels’ stellar performance was in front of a 3,000+ crowd, drawing fans from across the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, Utah, and Canada to name a few.
Within the first 20 minutes of play with the Gaels A-Side, the Bears found the try line twice before Saint Mary’s Hunter Chuhlantseff ’23, MS ’24 caused the Bears to turn over the ball. Hunter Modlin ’25 passed to Inoke Waquvesi ‘23, MA ’24 who sent it to Dominic Besag ‘26 to cross the try line. Mario Storti ’25 made the successful conversion.
While the downpour of rain continued throughout the match, the fans were not deterred and stuck out to watch this annual Bay Area grudge match. A lineout by Nathaniel Deegan ’26 allowed the Gaels to have a successful maul-out with Hunter Modlin passing to Dominic Besag to earn more points before stepping away at half-time, down 14–24.
After halftime, Saint Mary’s outmatched the Bears with two unanswered tries. The Gaels capitalized on the overzealous Cal players by using their speed and velocity. Erich Stori ’24 ran past defenders and reached the 5-meter mark outside the try line, and with a strong maul from the Gaels, Dominic Besag took it in for his third try of the game. After those points, King Matu offloaded to Iosefa Toia'ivao ’26 to put the Gaels up 26–24 early in the second half.
The Gaels stayed up by two points until the last 20 minutes of play. The Bears managed to find the try zone for the final time during the match, but the Gaels answered back with another try from Domnic Besag and a successful conversion by Mario Storti to tie the game 31–31. With six minutes left in the match, Saint Mary’s held onto the possession. Inoke Waquevesi stepped and lunged to reach for the try line; that, with another successful conversion by Storti, set the final score in favor of the Gaels 38–31.
Men's Rugby B-Side also came away with a win against the Bears, 36–26.
The playoff seeding will be announced in the coming week. Saint Mary’s is in the mix for the No. 1 seed. The successful season by the Gaels places them as a top contender for the College Rugby Association of American (CRAA) D1A National Championship title.
READ MORE: Goff Rugby Report:
With 15 to go Cal was pinged for offside in the middle of the field. Saint Mary's got a perfect touch finder from Erich Storti and from that lineout the Gaels faked a maul and went wide.
The Ultimate Sports Guide Magazine: See the spectacular photos from Darren Yamashita.