Cal won its 29th national title in 15-man rugby and its first since 2017 on Saturday when the Bears defeated Life University 55-38.
Freshman flyhalf Filip Edstrom was named Man of the Match as he made six of his eight conversion kicks and opened the scoring with a penalty kick.
Life led midway through the first half and again midway through the second, but the Bears scored the last three tries to seal a win in the highest-scoring national title match in Division 1-A history.
Seven different Bears scored tries in addition to Edstrom’s 15 points on kicks. Masi Koi scored twice: 40 seconds into the second half on a chip-and-chase after a turnover, and the game-sealing try in the 77th minute.
After Life scored consecutive tries to retake the lead in the second half, Oliver Newall and Joe Kirsten reached the tryzone within four minutes of each other. Then Koi capped the scoring.
“Very difficult game. There was a lot of resolve in both teams,” Bears coach Jack Clark told the university’s website. “It was punch-for-punch for 80 minutes.”
Clark, who captured his 30th career title between 15-man and sevens, also shouted out senior captain Charlie Walsh as “one of the legendary Cal captains” for his leadership this season.