February 8, 2025
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Stanford Men's Rugby vs Cal Maritime
Steuber Rugby Stadium
Stanford, CA
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Stanford 43 -Â Cal Maritime 36
Stanford Men's Rugby hosted Cal Maritime in week two of the USA Rugby Collegiate California Men's D1AA conference. The Keelhaulers were recently named #16 in the country by Goff Rugby Report in the Men's D1AA Spring Rankings.
The family, friends, and alumni that filled the stands were in for a treat as the two teams battled back and forth for the afternoon. The scoring started off with the Cardinal scoring from a lineout in the Maritime 22m in the 3' minute of the match. Tom Adamo '25 popped to Taki Rifai '27 who found Adamo on a loop and put the back back into his hands for the try. Captain Diego Burgos '25 converted the try for a 7-0 lead. The Keelhaulers answered back with 7 of their own following an 8-man pick at the scrum.Â
In the 16' minute, on a penalty tap 5 meters out, Travis Senf '25 impressively managed to keep his feet in a swarm of defenders to spin in for the try. In the 20th minute, Maritime launched a short side attack and converted on a line break for a converted try, taking the lead 12-14.Â
The Cardinal capitalized on Maritimes penalties to gain territory and put the Keelhaulers under pressure against their goal line. Off scrum in the Keelhauler's 22m, scrumhalf Leiden Brueschke '28 sent the ball to the backs where Jeff Edsall '25 spotted a disconnect in the defense and made his way in for the try. The final try of the half was kick started by Fullback Patrick Kennedy '27 who returned a kick 25 meters down the sideline. This set the platform for the forwards to work up the middle before the ball was sent to Rifai at flyhalf who broke a tackle and sprinted in for the try center. The Cardinal went into halftime 24-14.
Maritime quickly found the tryzone in the 2nd half. A Stanford penalty at the ruck set the stage for a Maritime kick to touch and an ensuing maul with the hooker breaking off for the try. The unconverted try brought the Keelhaulers to within a try, but the Cardinal stayed focused into the next restart. The Cardinal quickly regathered and after the ensuing kickoff, Nicholas Woerle '25 recovered a loose ball and got around the Maritime defense. He found Edsall who was in for his second at the 44' minute and Kennedy slotted the conversion.Â
Maritime played in the Cardinal half for the next 10 minutes. The Cardinal's defensive efforts in those minutes were topped off by Brueschke's try saving tackle effort as the scrumhalf tackled the ball carrier whose foot stepped into touch prior to doting it down. Despite the effort, the try was awarded, and the Cardinal lead shrunk to 31-24.
In the 56th minute the Cardinal found their way into the Keelhaulers 22m yet again. Edsall led a 5m penalty quick tap effort and barreled through the defense for the hat trick. Kennedy converted to bring the lead to 38-24. The Keelhaulers answered back with two tries to close the gap in the final minutes to 38-34.Â
The defensive effort by the Cardinal to keep the Keelhaulers out in the final minutes was a collective effort. The Cardinal would have the final say off a scrum in the Keelhaulers 22m. The Burgos carried from the Cardinal scrum making his way through a few defenders before offloading to Rifai who dove over the line for the try to seal a 43-34 victory.Â
The Cardinal are now 1-1 in conference play and will face San Jose State on February 22, 2025 at 2:00pm in a double header with the women's team playing at 11am vs Cal. The Family Weekend event will welcome friends, family, and alumni back to the Farm.Â
Follow @stanford_rugby to check out clips from the Try of the Week.
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Tries:Â
Tom Adamo
Jeff Edsall (3)
Travis Senf
Taki Rifai (2)
Conversions:Â
Diego Burgos
Patrick Kennedy (3)
Stanford Men's Roster vs Cal Maritime
- Obinna Ekeagwu
- Terry Guo
- Nolan Pierce
- Travis Senf
- Nicholas Woehrle
- Connor Mehaffey
- Leo Campos Yu
- Diego Burgos (c)
- Leiden BrueschkeÂ
- Taki Rifai
- Tom Adamo
- Jeff Edsall
- Anders Luffman
- Su Reh
- Patrick Kennedy
- Zane Jackson
- Ryan Mago
- Jawad IbrahimÂ
- Matt Ledorze
