Match 15, 2025
Stanford Men's Rugby vs San Francisco State
Boxer Stadium
San Francisco, CA
Stanford 24 -Â San Francisco 27
The Cardinal traveled to San Francisco to play SF State on Saturday afternoon at Boxer Stadium with a roster of 16 athletes who were ready to represent in Cardinal jerseys. Stepping in at scrumhalf for the match was Anders Luffman '25, who has played a variety of positions for the Cardinal this season. This allowed for Leiden Brueschke '28 to shift to flyhalf with Jeff Edsall '25 and David Kasemervisz '25 in the centers.Â
The Cardinal spent the first 10 minutes of the matching Gator territory as their forwards punched forward over a series of possessions. Despite multiple changes in possession in the first 10 minutes, the Cardinal caught the Gators on the back foot as they played quickly from penalties. The determined attack finished with Leo Campos Yu '28 scoring with a try in the corner after a long pass from Brueschke. Captain Diego Burgos '25 converted for the 7-0 lead.
The Gators would post three unconverted tries in response over the next 30 minutes to bring the half time score to 7-15 to the Gators.
The Cardinal bounced back pressuring the Gators in their own 22 meter zone. In the 53th minute, the defensive pressure led to a bobbled ball by a San Francisco back which was eagerly scooped up by center Kasemervisz '25 in his first official conference match as a Cardinal. With a natural instinct to find space and shake defenders, Kasemervisz made an 80 meter run to score his first try as a Cardinal. The former Cardinal football wide receiver and special teams, excelled quickly during his introduction to rugby over the past two weeks.Â
The Gators scored a fourth unconverted try in the 56th minute to widen to a 12-20 margin with just under 25 minutes to play. On the subsequent kick off, Ben Felter '25 pounced on the mishandled restart by the Gators to give the Cardinal possession just outside the Gator 22m. As the Cardinal worked across the pitch, the Gators were penalized at the ruck and the repeat infringement resulted in a yellow card to San Francisco who would play the next 10 minutes down a player.Â
With time winding down on the yellow card and possession back with San Francisco, Stanford continued to battle defensively. A stripped ball by Felter landed possession in Nolan Pierce's hands. As the sophomore prop tidied possession, he was brought to ground in a high tackle. Edsall was quick to react, taking the penalty quickly and running through the retreating Gator defense. Despite an ankle tap that tripped him up, he managed to offload the ball to Brueschke who sprinted for the 25 meter finish. Burgos converted the try to bring the score to 19-20.Â
In the 72nd minute, the Cardinal forced a penalty at the ruck and Bruschke booted the ball down field into touch for a Cardinal lineout ust outside the Gator 22m. The Cardinal forwards went to work and strong carries again found the Gators penalized at the rucks. This time Bruschke's kick set up the pack for a 5 meter attacking lineout and Burgos barged through the defense for the try. Edsall's conversion attempt was just wide to the right. The Cardinal took the lead 24-20 with minutes remaining.Â
San Francisco answered back and took the lead with 4 minutes remaining. The Cardinal fought hard until the last whistle though could not convert on remaining possessions. The roster of sixteen players for the day demonstrated grit and pride as they gave every bit on the pitch for their teammates.Â
The Cardinal have concluded conference play and will return after spring break to compete in Rugby 7s. The Cardinal will host a 7s tournament on Saturday April 12th at Steuber Rugby. Follow @stanford_rugby on Instagram to check out clips from the Try of the Week.
Tries:
Leo Campos Yu
David Kasemervisz
Leiden Bruschke
Diego Burgos
Conversions:
Diego Burgos (2)
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Stanford Men's Roster vs SFSU
- Obinna Ekeagwu
- Terry Guo
- Nolan Pierce
- Travis Senf
- Nicholas Woehrle
- Connor Mehaffey
- Ben Felter
- Diego Burgos (c)
- Anders Luffman
- Leiden Brueschke
- Leo Campos Yu
- Jeff Edsall
- David Kasemervisz
- Ryan Mago
- Zane Jackson
- Jawad Ibrahim
