In an exciting clash between two top North American college teams, University of British Columbia held off Cal 20-15 Saturday at Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley.

The game came down to the final seconds, with Cal knocking on the door trying to score their first try, and the one that could have tied or won the game. But UBC's defense was stout, and Cal was unable to burst through, ultimately giving up a turnover in the ruck right on the tryline to end the game.

Cal opened the scored in the first minute, playing fast from ruck to ruck the Bears forced a UBC penalty and fullback Harry Adolphus slotted it over. After that the two teams played back and forth. It wasn't always pretty, as the hits were aggressive and they forced dropped balls, and forced both teams to kick. Eventually, UBC equalized with a penalty, but in reply Cal pushed deep into the Thunderbird zone and got another penalty shot for Adolphus, and he didn't miss.

Late in the first half, Cal got a penalty a couple of meters inside their own half. Captain Anthony Salaber asked Adolphus to take another shot, and the fullback sent it through the uprights for a 9-3 Cal lead.

The second half began with UBC taking the fight to Cal, and they worked with much more urgency on offense. This opened up a little space down the sideline for fullback Andrew Coe to slide in at the corner despite plenty of Cal attention. Brock Staller hit the touchline conversion to give UBC a 10-9 lead.

Another long-range kick from Adolphus gave Cal a 12-10 lead, but UBC replied with Coe once again going over. Staller kicked the extras for a 17-12 lead.

Cal had some scoring opportunities after that. Salaber went on a big break, but had no one close to him to finish it off, and Russell Webb was also difficult to contain for UBC. Still UBC was penalized repeatedly, and got yellow cards on two occasions for their pains. But Cal struggled to get any points from those penalties. They opted to take the lineout twice, and couldn't get it in, and then finally had to take a penalty on offer to make it 17-15.

A chance to move Cal ahead went just wide from Adolphus, and then Staller slotted a penalty to keep UBC ahead 20-15.

Cal's final attack lasted well past full time, but they just could not break enough tackles, and UBC won.

This isn't the end of the World (Cup) for Cal, as they have lost at home before only to win the two-game series on the road. Last year the games were split, with the road team winning each time. A five-point deficit is not a big one, and certainly by then Cal will have found a few more wrinkles in their attacking approach to get through the UBC defense.

Cal 15

Pens: Adolphus 5

UBC 20

Tries: Coe 2

Convs: Staller 2

Pens: Staller