It was a wild and woolly day in the Northern California college scene, even if you discount Cal’s surprise loss to Cal Poly.

Santa Clara and Chico State played in a barnburner, with Chico escaping 43-42.

In that game, Chico ran out to a 22-0 lead after 20 minutes and led 22-7 at halftime. Somehow Santa Clara came back, but Chico kept answering them with enough tries to just hold on.

“We just ran out of time at the end to finish what would have been an awesome comeback,” said Santa Clara club president Ryan Falvey. “It was a tough loss but we can take a lot from it and be prepared for a big match with Sac State next Saturday.”

Indeed, Sacramento State was in a thriller, too. They held on just at the death to beat Stanford 23-22. In what was a “much better” performance from Stanford, said their coach matt Sherman, the Cardinal showcased their athleticism a little more and didn’t back down.

Behind 23-15 they scored and kicked the conversion just as time was running out. Sac State was able to boot the restart into touch to end the game.

“We had a lot of possession and territory, and it was a good effort, but we are still working on putting it all together,” said Sac State Head Coach Mason Gunn. “We got a little closer today to what we need to be.”

Sac State leads the NorCal league with a 2-0 record, but it's all to play for as there's plenty of rugby left.