Cal improves to 2-0 with win at Reno

By RugbyMag.com staff:

All was quiet on the Northern Californian front last Saturday, except for Cal Women, which defeated Nevada-Reno 26-19 to stay undefeated in DI.

“It didn’t feel that way for the whole game,” Cal coach Ellen Owens said of the close score. “We scored all of our points in the first half, which made for a very long second half.”

Hooker Ana Robles and wings Cameo Motley (2) and NHa Vu took care of the tries, while eightman Jennifer Sever slotted three conversions. But the Bears had a difficult time adjusting to the referee, who wasn’t calling many penalties at the breakdown and which resulted in a lot of bodies on the floor and slow ball.

“That gives the defenses time to reset and get ready to go,” Owens explained. “It was difficult for us to figure out how to get the ball to the backs quicker, especially since their defense came up so quickly.

“The breakdown didn’t seem to obstruct Reno’s game plan,” Owens continued. “They attacked the fringe, gained advantage off loose ball and capitalized on all of our mistakes. They were very opportunistic.”

Fortunately for Cal, the team was able to maintain a lot of possession and hold off Reno’s late surge.

Cal has two of its toughest games against Stanford and UC Davis finishing out the league season. With the top two Northern California seeds getting a bye into Pacific Coast playoffs, the next two matches will determine how difficult the post-season will be.

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