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Cal Rugby in Collegiate Rugby Championship Invitational Championship Rounds

Bears are 3 tough wins away from being able to repeat as Rugby 7s national champions.

By Ruey Yen
an action shot from Cal vs. Maryland yesterday
an action shot from Cal vs. Maryland yesterday
Ruey Yen

Collegiate Rugby Championship Invitational

Where: Chester, PA

When: 7:20 AM - QF, Cal vs. Penn State; 12:00 PM - semi (Live on NBCSN); 2:29 PM - final (Live on NBC)

TV: NBCSN 2-4 p.m. ET / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. PT, NBC 4-6 p.m. ET / 1-3 p.m. PT

Match schedule and results: USASevensCRC

Live Updates: Twitter (@CalVarsityRugby)

With two wins in first time meeting over Drexel (36-0) and Maryland (40-5), the Golden Bears secured not only another pool play win (I don't believe the Bears have dropped a pool play game in the 5 year existence of the CRC) but also the top overall seed due to the point differential.

What that means is that the Bears get to be on the opposite side of the bracket as the also unbeaten Life (who have not allowed an opponent to score points) and the growing program that is UCLA. Also on that side of the bracket is two-time champs in Dartmouth. On the Golden Bears' side, there is Michigan who got the 4th seed and are unbeaten. There are also the other Golden Bears from Kutztown that may be a semifinal opponent.

First up for the Bears are the Penn State Nittany Lions (2-1) with 0-7 loss to UCLA but 24-5 win over South Carolina and 25-0 win over Northeastern. This match will take place at 7:20 AM PT. Despite the long distance of Happy Valley to Philadelphia, there will be a decent crowd behind Penn State.

Golden Bears were assessed a yellow card in each of the match yesterday which saw the team having to play 6 on 7 for a couple of minutes. In both cases, the Bears were able to score a short-handed try, but that's obviously not the recipe for success.

Bears got a visit from Cal in Philly celebrity in former Golden Bears and current Philadelphia Eagles linebacker in Mychal Kendricks yesterday afternoon.

I will again be on location to try to provide some behind the scene insight of this tournament. Check back next week (Wednesday) for that photo-essay article.

GO BEARS!

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