California started its spring season with three shutouts Saturday at UCLA's All-UC Tournament. Fifty-three players took the field and 16 them scored total of 21 tries as the Golden Bears beat UC Santa Barbara, 34-0; UC Davis, 45-0; and UC San Diego, 57-0.
The Bears will face the host Bruins at 1 p.m. Sunday on the North Athletic Field to culminate the event also known as the Dennis Storer Classic.
Newcomer Alex Quimson notched the first score of Cal's season when the outside center followed Jared Braun downfield and took an offload at the 15-meter line into the try zone against UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos' best scoring chance went wide left when UCSB's inside center missed a 36-meter penalty attempt two minutes later. Braun scored a pair of tries from inside center together with touchdowns from winger Max Shaulis and flanker Kenny Bruzzone as flyhalf Brandon Kraft connected on 4-of-5 conversions in the Bears' victory.
In their second match, the Bears took 12 minutes to get oriented against UC Davis before hooker Jack O'Beirne scored the first try of the game, converted by Jake Anderson. Eakalafi Okusi and Tanner Mohr added first-half tries. In the second frame, a try by Anderson was followed by scores by newcomers J.P. Hurrell, Quimson and Alec Gletzer, with Andre Coquillard kicking the last three conversions.
The final match on Saturday for the Bears saw a dozen freshmen and three sophomores start in a nine-try victory over UC San Diego. Lucas Dunne scored two tries with his fleet feet when he wasn't distributing the ball from scrumhalf and first-year Anthony Salaber had a hat trick at fullback.
Cal's conversion kickers combined to make 15-of-21 attempts (.714), led by Patrick Barrientes' perfect 4-for-4 against UCSD.
While the day yielded plenty of data for improvement within the three victories, Cal's biggest success came in getting playing time for most of its roster with the exception of select few, such as captain Seamus Kelly.
The winner of tomorrow's match between Cal and UCLA will be the recipient of the Dennis Storer Memorial Trophy, commissioned by Dorothy Storer, the widow of the former UCLA head coach and the first coach of the U.S. National Team.
Following Sunday's finale, the Bears return home for a midweek evening tilt against Santa Clara on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m., followed on Saturday, Jan. 26, by the battle for the Scrum Axe vs. Stanford at 1 p.m. to celebrate the official reopening of Witter Rugby Field.
The Scoring Timeline vs. UC Santa Barbara
02:00 Alex Quimson 5, Brandon Kraft 2
06:00 Max Shaulis 5, Brandon Kraft 2
20:00 Jared Braun 5, Brandon Kraft 2
Halftime Score: California 21, UC Santa Barbara 0
23:00 Kenny Bruzzone 5
27:00 Jared Braun 5, Brandon Kraft 2
Final Score: California 34, UC Santa Barbara 0
The Team vs. UC Santa Barbara
15. Battaglia (Morris @ 25:00), 14. Shaulis, 13. Quimson (Welch @ 3:00), 12. Braun (Hess @ 30:00), 11. Tucker, 10. Kraft, 9. Boyer, 1. Mohr (Walsh @ 25:00), 2. Hyjer (Moscone @ 25:00), 3, C. Fry, 4. Purdy, 5. Bowman, 6. Chehade, 7. Bruzzone (J. Fry @ 25:00), 8. De Nysschen © (Beckerman @ 25:00)
The Scoring Timeline vs. UC Davis
12:00 Jack O'Beirne 5, Jake Anderson 2
16:00 Eakalafi Okusi 5, Jake Anderson 2
18:00 Tanner Mohr 5
Halftime Score: California 19, UC Davis 0
25:00 Jake Anderson 5
30:00 J.P. Hurrell 5, Andre Coquillard 2
33:00 Alex Quimson 5, Andre Coquillard 2
37:00 Alex Gletzer 5, Andre Coquillard 2
Final Score: California 45, UC Davis 0
The Team vs. UC Davis:
15. Anderson (c), 14. Battaglia, 13. Quimson, 12. Okusi, 11. Shaulis, 10, Coquillard, 9. Bosco,1. Mohr (Walsh @ 26:00), 2. O'Beirne, 3. Hurrell, 4. Coleman, 5. Grass, 6. Hendrickson, 7, Gletzer, 8 De Nysschen
The Scoring Timeline vs. UC San Diego
08:00 Russell Webb 5
12:00 Anthony Salaber 5, Russell Webb 2
18:00 Blake Simons 5, Russell Webb 2
20:00 Charles Guiraud 5
Halftime Score: California 24, UC San Diego 0
23:00 Lucas Dunne 5
29:00 Lucas Dunne 5, Patrick Barrientes 2
31:00 Anthony Salaber 5, Patrick Barrientes 2
38:00 Anthony Salaber 5, Patrick Barrientes 2
40:00 Anthony Calnero 5, Patrick Barrientes 2
Final Score: California 57, UC San Diego 0
The Team vs. UC San Diego
15. A. Salaber, 14. Guiraud, 13. Todd (Drake @ 24:00), 12. Welch, 11. Honens (Chipman @ 21:00), 10. Webb (c), 9. Dunne, 1. Poston (Haynes @ 24:00), 2. Libarle, 3. Vrame (Palmer @ 24:00), 4. Hamiltion, 5. Kondrat, 6. Calnero, 7. N. Salaber, 8. Simons
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