Stanford Wins Second CRAA Title in a Row
Stanford Wins Second CRAA Title in a Row
Stanford beat Cal in impressive fashion Saturday to win the CRAA Women's D1 title, but it wasn't all Cardinal, as the Bears showed that, yes, they can play rugby too.
Cal came out determined to hit Stanford hard and pressure them into mistakes.
It was a good plan, but when they were a bit over-eager, the Bears drifted offside. Such a drifting led to a quick tap from Stanford scrumhalf Emma Cruz saw her feed Laura Bocek. The flyhalf caught and passed in one smooth movement, taking a hit at the same time, and Journey Washingtonhigh was free to run into the corner.
The Stanford forwards put one over for a 14-0 lead, but Cal continued to pressure the Cardinal. They got a boost from a brilliant individual play as center Mariah Overby faked a switch move and sidestepped through the gap that created. Overby’s acceleration and elusiveness beat five tacklers to take it in from over 50 meters.
But you can’t give away momentum like that. A knock-on right off the restart led to a Stanford scrum on the Cal 22. No. 8 Kirsten Lees picked up and almost made it to the line. In the end prop Vanessa Onuoha was driven over.
Cal mistakes led to the next try. They were penalized for holding-on inside the Stanford half. Stanford took the lineout, lost the ball forward, but in the ensuing scrum, Cal was penalized for losing their binding. Stanford took the lineout again, this time well inside the Cal 22, drove the maul, and four passes later Washingtonhigh fought her way over.
Cal camped out in Stanford’s half for about seven minutes or so. They were halted repeatedly, but a tap and run from No. 8 and co-captain May Lauritzen got them close and another penalty saw Lauritzen tap again. Finally Overby set up prop Lupita Gonzalez for the try. That made it 26-10 with halftime looming.
Both teams had chances to get on the scoreboard again before halftime, but gave up penalties to hurt themselves and the score remained 26-10 at the break.
Cal got themselves into the Stanford end early in the second half. They had made an interesting change, putting Jenna Ho-Sing-Loy in at scrumhalf and moving starting scrumhalf Lorie Martinez to the wing.
Wing Eve Mango got them going with a counter off a kick, and then prop Sydney Yasukochi carried hard. After a little consolidation, the ball was sent out to Martinez to score in the corner and make it 26-15.
Stanford responded well and Lees went over on an eightman pick. Right off the ensuing restart, Stanford produced their best sequence of the evening.
Hope Adhanom-Shipman caught the kick and set the ruck. Cruz sent it out to Bocek who set up Leila Wang Gaouette for a big carry, covering 14 meters and taking four tacklers with her. Quick hands from Cruz to Bocek to flanker Sydney Davis set up center Jacqui McLean on the wing and she burst down the sideline for 30 meters to Cal’s 22.
Quick ball once again and Bocek linked with Wang Gaouette once again and she powered through for about 12 meters. Quick ball once more and Bocek passed to Lees and she took an angle to paydirt.
It was an 80-meter movement that covered four rucks and nine passes and some very smart ball distribution from Cruz and Bocek.
Cal dropped a pass that was scooped up by Chisa Ogaki took it to the house. She converted that try also for a commanding 43-15 lead. Lees added a pick-and-go try and now Stanford was rolling. Prop Madi Cunningham finished it off. Lauritzen, who was pretty heroic on the day, scored in the corner for Cal and the game ended with Overby making a 40-meter run and being dragged down 10 meters short. Center Cecilia Otuhiva then dummied and stretched over to give Cal one more try.
Stanford 57 California 25
For Stanford, Davis was a workhorse, running around with a protective bandage on her face. Bocek was silky in her distribution, and Tasukochi and Lees got the hard yards. This was a very good Cal team, and a truly excellent Stanford team claiming their second straight CRAA D1 title.
