Cal Maritime collects another wire-to-wire win
VALLEJO, Calif. – Before the start of Saturday's Fall finale at Bodnar Field, Cal Maritime Rugby honored Valerie Holl-McGowan, Elizabeth McNie, Don Maier, Assis Malaquias, Keir Moorhead, Ariel Setniker, Joshua Shackman, Ryan Storz and Ryan Wade in a pregame Faculty Appreciation Day ceremony.
Once action commenced, Cal Maritime scored its 17 first half points within a 10-minute timespan and led by 14 at the break.
Following consecutive tries from Jacob Jenkins, Andrew Cavinta recorded the Keelhaulers' final points of the half on his try, which took place with just over nine minutes remaining in the half.
Two 35-minute halves comprised Saturday's game since the West Regional Championship game between Humboldt State and New Mexico Tech was slated to begin at 1:30 p.m.
As was the case last week with Sonoma State, UC Santa Cruz pieced together a spirited comeback by scoring the first 10 points of the second half, Jerry McLarnon extended Cal Maritime's lead to nine with just over 10 minutes left to play.
The Banana Slugs made things interesting by pulling within one, with 7:22 on the clock, but the Keelhaulers stepped up in crunch time by preventing UCSC from scoring another point for the rest of the day.
Shortly after the horn sounded, Gavin Murray tacked on another five points on the board for Cal Maritime, and Jonah Wolfe capped the afternoon with another successful conversion to help the Keelhaulers end the Fall season with a 31-23 victory.
In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, New Mexico Tech broke a 15-15 tie, with 4:42 remaining, to take the lead until Humboldt State responded with a try, with all zeros showing on the clock, to jump ahead by a 20-18 score entering injury time.
With the referee holding four fingers in the air, signifying four minutes remaining on his watch, the Miners marched down the field and took the lead for good by converting a penalty kick, ultimately winning 21-20 to earn one of four coveted spots in the national club championship tournament.
Scoring Timeline
Cal Maritime 31, UC Santa Cruz 23
14:47 Jacob Jenkins 5
22:07 Jacob Jenkins 5, Jonah Wolfe 2
24:18 Andrew Cavinta 5
30:30 UC Santa Cruz (#10) 3
Halftime Score: Cal Maritime 17, UC Santa Cruz 3
6:43 UC Santa Cruz (#17) 5, UC Santa Cruz (#10) 2
9:13 UC Santa Cruz (#10) 3
19:25 Jerry McLarnon 5, Jonah Wolfe 2
22:38 UC Santa Cruz (#10) 3
27:05 UC Santa Cruz (#12) 5, UC Santa Cruz (#10) 2
35:00 Gavin Murray 5, Jonah Wolfe 2
Scoring Timeline
College Rugby Championship — West Region
New Mexico Tech 21, Humboldt State 20
19:40 Humboldt State DeShawn Ellis 5, Humboldt State Jake Barry, 2
24:26 New Mexico Tech Milaan Van Wyte, 3
27:08 New Mexico Tech Ethan Jankins 5, New Mexico Tech Nicholas Hutt, 2
39:12 Humboldt State Jake Barry, 3
Halftime Score: Humboldt State 10, New Mexico Tech 10
4:41 New Mexico Tech Julian Brittain, 5
9:29 Humboldt State Jason Uipi, 5
35:18 New Mexico Tech Alejandro Lopez, 3
40:00 Humboldt State Latu Kolopeaua, 5
40:00 New Mexico Tech Ethan Jenkins, 3