March 16, 2002

BERKELEY, Calif. - The Cal varsity rugby squad (11-0), playing their reserve grade side, were convincing winners in their first match of the Canterbury Invitational, beating Vermont's Norwich University, 93-3, Saturday afternoon on Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley.

After watching the Washington Huskies manhandle the Texas Longhorns, 41-10, in the morning match, the Bears came out and showed what top-notch rugby is all about. With most of the usual starting lineup sitting in preparation for tomorrow's match, the Bears' reserves didn't skip a beat - putting on a performance in typical Cal fashion.

The Bears started the game by stealing the ball off a Norwich line-out at midfield and drove the ball convincingly downfield, capped off by freshman scrumhalf Andy Johnson's first try of the season. Just four minutes later, junior Erik Larsen scored one of his three tries of the day to put the Bears up 12-0 and never looking back. Norwich threatened a few times in the first half but came out empty. At the 11-minute mark, the Cadets pushed the ball into the Cal tryzone but the Cal defender grounded the ball in the endzone to take over possession. Senior flyhalf Matt Viboch capped off the half with his try at the 38-minute mark to put the Bears up 45-0 going into the second stanza.

The second half started much like the first. The Cadets fumbled the opening kickoff, resulting in another Norwich turnover. Once again, Larsen scored his second try of the game just three minutes into the half, giving Cal a convincing 50-0 lead. With Norwich struggling to erase the shutout, they were forced to attempt a penalty kick at the 56-minute mark but the strong Canyon wind blew it wide. With the Cadets' confidence fading, senior Kevin Ambrosini put the nail in the coffin by scoring a try off of a breakaway run from midfield. Ambrosini used his phenomenal speed to sprint past the winded Cadet defenders to put the Bears up 69-0. In a last ditch effort to erase the shutout, the Cadets hit a penalty goal from 22 meters, with just four minutes left in the game, to put Norwich on the board.

"The intent of the tournament is to prepare our player rotations for the post-season," said head coach Jack Clark who notched the 312th win of his career. "I thought several guys in today's game put themselves forward in the rotation. Andy Johnson was one of those guys as he really controlled the tempo of the match from the scrumhalf position."

The second round of the Canterbury of New Zealand Invitational will see Texas square off against Norwich in the consolation game, Sunday March 17 at 11:00 a.m. The championship game will follow at 1:00 p.m., featuring Cal versus Washington.

"Washington were convincing winners over Texas today," said Clark. "They should give us a bit of the work that we are looking for."

	1st Half	2nd Half	Final
Norwich	       0	       3	    3
Cal	      45	      48	   93

Scoring:
2:00	CAL   - Johnson (try)
6:00 	CAL   - Larsen (try) (Orlando conversion)
18:00	CAL   - Bonetto (try) (Orlando conversion)
22:00	CAL   - Stanfill (try)
26:00	CAL   - Willenborg (try) (Orlando conversion)
34:00	CAL   - Donnelly (try) (Orlando conversion)
38:00	CAL   - Viboch (try) (Orlando conversion)
Halftime: Cal - 45, Norwich - 0
43:00	CAL   - Larsen (try)
53:00	CAL   - McClenahan (try)
58:00	CAL   - Larsen (try) (Orlando conversion)
60:00	CAL   - Ambrosini (try) (Orlando conversion)
62:00	CAL   - Dave Anderson (try) (Orlando conversion)
69:00	CAL   - Johnson (try) (Orlando conversion)
75:00	CAL   - Orlando (try) (Orlando conversion)
77:00	NOR   - (penalty kick)
81:00	CAL   - Orlando (drop goal penalty kick)

Substitutions: 45th minute, Elliot Geidt in for Bradley Burruel, 51st minute, David Anderson in for Matt Viboch, 63rd minute, Keir Paasch in for Tony Vontz, Colin Wallace in for Erik Larsen, Joseph McDivitt in for Brian McClenahan, 69th minute, Miles Jones in for Marc Tausend, Jacques Wilson in for Andrew Blair, 73rd minute, Luke Schuering in for Kevin Ambrosini.

Cal Record: 11-0-0