California has advanced to the semifinals of the PAC Sevens Rugby Tournament with its 36-0 shutout of Arizona in the quarterfinals to end an arduous day Saturday on UCLA's North Athletic Field. The Golden Bears face the Bruins at 11:20 a.m. in Sunday's semi and the winner faces either Utah or Arizona State in the tourney final, which kicks off at 2 p.m. PT.

The Bears exited Saturday's four-match melee with a +103 points differential on a tournament-leading 129 points scored.

"It was full effort that taxed everybody," said senior captain Seamus Kelly. "Anything can happen in 7s - it's the nature of the game - but the challenges we faced today continually refocused us and we're looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow to compete again."

Cal started at 9 a.m. Saturday in Pool A with a seven-try, 43-0 win over USC. Four freshmen and two sophomores joined senior Jared Braun, who scored two tries in his first action of the year, to shut down the Trojans. First-year players Anthony Salaber and Charles Guiraud also scored two tries apiece against USC and sophomore Nicklas Boyer kicked four conversions.

Against Oregon State in game two, the Bears yielded their first try of the day to the Beavers' Robert Kennedy, converted by Nick Cutrell. But that only made the score 19-7 en route to Cal's five-try, 33-7 win.

Next came a battle between Cal and Arizona State in the final pool match for both teams, and ASU dealt the Bears their only setback. After freshman Russell Webb got Cal on the board early with a 5-0 advantage, the Sun Devils took the first lead of the day over the Bears when ASU's Peter Ondi scored a try that was converted by Adam Sandstrom in the fifth minute, making it a 7-5 ballgame.

Arizona State's advantage was short lived thanks to an end-to-end gallop by sophomore Michael Bush at the horn, converted by Russell Webb for a 12-7 Cal lead at the break. But the Sun Devils tied the match on an unconverted try by Ryan Spiewak midway through the second stanza. Captain Seamus Kelly came on as a reserve and his try seized back the lead two minutes later; however, referee Nick Ricono allowed a hasty lineout by ASU with time winding down and the Devils capitalized on Cal's disorganized alignment, with Spiewak's second score setting up the match-winning conversion by Sandstrom.

Its 2-1 result in pool play earned Cal a place in the quarterfinals, where it faced Arizona, the runnerup at the 2012 Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s. The Bears began well with a try by Jake Anderson, followed by two scores from fellow 7s All-American Kelly. Senior Anthony Lombardo's try made it 24-0 at halftime and the Bears never looked back, adding another from Lombardo and a final try from sophomore Nicklas Boyer to sew up their 36-0 shutout.

Sunday will offer stout tests for all the teams in the competition. The host Bruins take a 4-0 tourney record into the semis, having capped their Saturday with a 29-5 quarterfinal victory over Oregon State. The Sun Devils moved on, too, with a 24-0 quarterfinal win over Oregon, setting up the other semifinal between ASU and Utah, who blanked Colorado in their quarterfinal.

Action at Sunday's PAC Sevens begins at 10 a.m. with Stanford vs. USC as every squad in the 12-team event plays two more matches - win, lose or draw. If Saturday is any indication, fans are in store for more roller-coaster excitement that offers no team anyplace to hide.

"In these seven-minute halves, every mistake is amplified and you can't call a timeout, so it's very intense," said freshman Patrick Barrientes, who saw action in pool play. "It was an honor to wear the blue and gold for my school in front of my family today. But tomorrow is a new mission for this team with its own goal."

PAC Sevens Rugby Tournament

Saturday Pool Play

California 43, USC 0
Arizona State 24, Oregon State 10
Arizona 26, Washington State 0
UCLA 38, Stanford 0
Utah 40, Oregon 5
Colorado 33, Washington 0
California 33, Oregon State 7
Arizona State 31, USC 12
Arizona 26, Stanford 7
UCLA 38, Washington State 0
Utah 24, Washington 5
Oregon 22, Colorado 12
Arizona State 19, California 17
Oregon State 45, USC 7
UCLA 19, Arizona 12
Stanford 33, Washington State 21
Colorado 12, Utah 7
Oregon 20, Washington 15

Saturday Quarterfinals

UCLA 29, Oregon 5
California 36, Arizona 0
Arizona State 24, Oregon 0
Utah 40, Colorado 0

Sunday Schedule

10 a.m. Stanford vs. USC (9th/10th qualifier) 10:20 a.m. Washington vs. Washington State (9th/10th qualifier) 10:40 a.m. Oregon State vs. Arizona (5th/6th qualifier)
11 a.m. Oregon vs. Colorado (5th/6th qualifier) 11:20 a.m. UCLA vs. California (semifinal) 11:40 a.m. Arizona State vs. Utah (semifinal) 12:20 p.m. 11th/12th playoff 12:40 p.m. 9th/10th playoff
1 p.m. 7th/8th playoff
1:20 p.m. 5th/6th playoff
1:40 p.m. 3rd/4th playoff
2 p.m. tournament final

The Scoring Timeline vs. USC

01:00 Patrick Barrientes 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
03:00 Jared Braun 5
05:00 Anthony Salaber 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
07:00 Charles Guiraud 5, Nicklas Boyer 2

Halftime Score: California 26, USC 0

08:00 Charles Guiraud 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
12:00 Jared Braun 5
13:00 Anthony Salaber 5

Final Score: California 43, USC 0

The Team vs. USC

1. Bush, 2. Todd, 3. Salaber, 4. Boyer, 5. Barrientes, 6. Braun, 7. Guiraud

The Scoring Timeline vs. Oregon State

05:00 Jake Anderson 5
07:00 Andre Coquillard 5, Jake Anderson 2
09:00 Charles Guiraud 5, Jake Anderson 2

Halftime Score: California 19, Oregon State 0

11:00 Oregon State (Robert Kennedy) 5, (Nick Cuttrel) 2
12:00 Nicklas Boyer 5, Jake Anderson 2
14:00 Jared Braun 5, Jake Anderson 2

Final Score: California 33, Oregon State 7

The Team vs. Oregon State

1. Okusi, 2. Braun, 3. Coquillard, 4. Boyer, 5. Anderson, 6. Barrientes, 7. Guiraud

The Scoring Timeline vs. Arizona State

02:00 Russell Webb 5
05:00 ASU (Peter Ondi) 5, (Adam Sandtrom) 2
07:00 Michael Bush 5, Russell Webb 2

Halftime Score: California 12, Oregon State 7

10:00 ASU (Ryan Spiewak) 5
11:00 Seamus Kelly 5
14:00 ASU (Ryan Spiewak) 5, (Adam Sandstrom) 2

Final Score: Arizona State 19, California 17

The Team vs. Arizona State

1. Bush, 2. Todd, 3. Salaber, 4. Webb, 5. Barrientes, 6. Battaglia, 7. Lombardo
Replacements: Kelly, Bosco, Anderson, Okusi

The Scoring Timeline vs. Arizona

02:00 Jake Anderson 5
04:00 Seamus Kelly 5, Russell Webb 2
06:00 Seamus Kelly 5
07:00 Anthony Lombardo 5, Jake Anderson 2

Halftime Score: California 24, Arizona 0

11:00 Nicklas Boyer 5
12:00 Anthony Lombardo 5, Jake Anderson 2

Final Score: California 36, Arizona 0

The Team vs. Arizona

1. Coquillard, 2. Battaglia, 3. Kelly, 4. Boyer, 5. Webb, 6. Anderson, 7. Lombardo

Replacements: Okusi, Todd, Bush, Salaber, Braun