Men's Rugby | 4/23/2016 5:05:00 PM

BERKELEY, Calif. (Apr. 22) -- The Central Washington University men's rugby team lost to the University of California in the semifinals of the Varsity Cup by a score of 13-14 in a hard fought match that went down to the final seconds.
 
The Wildcats had the opportunity to take the lead and the victory on a penalty kick as time expired in the contest.  Reuben Ludick's kick sailed just left of the post as the Golden Bears narrowly escaped with the win.
 
It was a series of unfortunate events for the Wildcats that started with a yellow card, putting CWU down a player most of the final 20 minutes of the game.  As the Wildcats got back to full strength Aladdin Schirmer got his hands on a five-meter scrum and buried his head into the try zone with less than four minutes to go in the game, but the Wildcats were called for a penalty, negating the score.
 
"I am really proud of how our team played, we did everything we could to win the game," CWU Head Coach Tony Pacheco said.  "I felt like we were the better team out there today, unfortunately, things did not go our way.
 
Ludick nailed two other penalty kicks in the contest for CWU and put through the conversion on the Wildcats opening try by Ian Wright.
 
Wright's score came off a line break by Tanner Barnes and was the games opening score in the 31^st minute.
 
"Tanner had a phenomenal day, and it was no doubt that he was the best player on the field," Pacheco said.  "He broke the line, drew the fullback and Ian followed right behind.  It was a great way to start the match."
 
California battled back to take a 14-7 lead before Ludick dropped in a pair of penalty kicks in the second half to pull the Wildcats to within one.
 
Central Washington had a shot at two penalty kicks in the final four minutes, but was unable to score of either as the game ended with Cal taking the 14-13 decision and advances to the Final against BYU.
 
The Wildcats next travel to Cary, NC on May 27-28 to compete in the USA Rugby 7's National Championship Tournament.