VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds won the first leg of the 2016 edition of the 'World' Cup series, earning a come-from-behind 20-15 victory over the California Golden Bears Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif.
 
UBC defended its try line at the end of the match to preserve its lead, keeping the Bears out of the in-goal area despite the home side holding possession of the ball deep inside the T-Birds' 10-metre line for the final two minutes.
 
The victory keeps UBC (11-0) undefeated in all competitions this season.
 


A penalty from Brock Staller (Vancouver) provided the only scoring for visiting UBC in the first half as the T-Birds went into the mid-game break down 9-3. Staller's three points were the first surrendered by Cal this year.
 
Harry Adolphus kicked three first-half penalties for the Golden Bears.
 
Early in the second half, UBC fullback Andrew Coe (Markham, Ont.) scored the first of his two tries, which was then converted by Staller to give the visitors the 10-9 advantage.
 
Adolphus kicked Cal back into the lead with a penalty in the 52nd minute before Coe replied with another converted try for UBC, which went ahead 17-12.
 
Adolphus was successful on a penalty for the fifth time in the match to get his team to within two points at 17-15, but his next attempt went wide from about 50 metres out.
 
Staller made his penalty kick in the 76th minute to increase the gap to 20-15, a five-point lead that the T-Bird will into the second match of the 'World' Cup, a two-game total-point series, on Sunday, March 20 at UBC.
 
- with files from California Sports Information