March 23, 2002

CHICO, Calif. - In preparation for the upcoming playoffs in a few weeks, most of Cal's (13-0) top performers took the day off Saturday, but the story remained the same. A mixed bag of starters and second-teamers traveled to Chico State, battled the cold and the wind and came out on top, 43-8. Seniors Mark Verlatti and James Orlando each scored two tries apiece in the victory.

Chico came out harder than expected and scratched the scoreboard first, just four minutes into the game on a penalty kick that put them up 3-0. In unfamiliar territory, with the Cal side trailing, the match went scoreless for the next 16 minutes. Junior Josh Downes received the ball at the end of a defensive lineout at the 20-minute mark and went in for the Bears' first try of the game. Cal would not relinquish the lead again, but the Bears went into the break with a slim 19-8 lead.

The Bears rebounded in the second half, scoring 24 unanswered points. This time, Cal's Verlatti notched his first try of the game only three minutes into the second stanza giving Cal the 24-8 lead. The Bears would never look back and neither would James Orlando as he scored his second try of the game off a 70m breakaway at the 53-minute mark. Verlatti added his second try at the 60-minute mark to end the scoring for both sides. As the sloppy conditions slowly deteriorated, so did the play. Neither side was able to gain any offensive momentum in the game's final 20 minutes as both sides scrapped it out to a 43-8 final.

"I thought that it was a solid performance ... nothing more," said head coach Jack Clark. "We rested a lot of guys today and the guys who played put in a strong effort."

DIVISION I RUGBY RESULTS:

	1st Half	2nd Half	Final
Cal	      19	      24	  43
Chico St.      8	       0	   8

Scoring:
4:00	CSU    - (penalty kick)
20:00 	CAL   - E. Andersen (try)
25:00	CAL   - Downes (try) (Orlando conversion)
26:00	CAL   - Orlando (try) (Orlando conversion)
30:00	CSU   - (try) (unconverted)
Halftime: 19-8, Cal
43:00	CAL   - Verlatti (try) (unconverted)
51:00	CAL   - Stanfill (try)
53:00	CAL   - Orlando (try) (Orlando conversion)
60:00	CAL   - Verlatti (try) (Orlando conversion)
Final: 43-8, Cal