April 20, 2002

BERKELEY, Calif. - The No. 1 seed California Bears (16-0) came into today's match with two weeks rest, playing mostly second side players and still claimed the 43-10 victory over the overmatched Middle Tennessee State Moosemen (8-2), Saturday afternoon at Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley. The win advances Cal to the Elite 8 match versus Ohio State, today's other winner, Sunday at 1:00 p.m. on Witter Rugby Field.

The Bears jumped out to an early 12-0 lead just 16 minutes into the match, on tries from freshmen 8-man Andrew Lindsey and senior flyhalf Matt Viboch. At the 35-minute mark, Cal maintained possession from a ruck at the MTS 40m line, completed a few nifty passes and landed the ball in the hands of Viboch at the 30m line for his second try of the day, giving the Bears a 19-0 lead going into the break. The Moosemen would miss a 30m penalty kick as time expired in the first half.

Middle Tennessee State got on the board just three minutes into the second half on a 15m penalty goal that narrowed the Cal lead to 16. But the Bears would answer back just three minutes later as Lindsey turned the corner out of a Cal scrum and took it into the tryzone for the 15m score. The Moosemen would add a try at the 49-minute mark to cut the Cal lead to 16 again, but the Bears would go on to score 17 unanswered points and hold on for the 43-10 victory.

"We're pleased to advance - single elimination is all about living to play another day," said head coach Jack Clark. "We've earned ourselves 80 more minutes of playoff rugby."

Cal will face Ohio State, Sunday April 21 at 1:00 p.m. for the chance to advance to the round of the Final 4. In the consolation match, Middle Tennessee State will take on Air Force at 11:00 a.m. at Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley.

DIVISION I RUGBY RESULTS:

               1st Half        2nd Half        Final
MTS                  0               10           10
California          19               24           43


Scoring:
8:00     CAL  - Lindsey (try)
16:00   CAL   - Viboch (try) (Blair conversion)
35:00   CAL   - Viboch (try) (Blair conversion)
Halftime: 19-0, Cal
43:00   MTS   - (penalty goal)
46:00   CAL   - Lindsey (try) (Blair conversion)
49:00   MTS   - (try) (2-point conversion)
69:00   CAL   - Khasigian (try) (Blair conversion)
72:00   CAL   - Ambrosini (try)
75:00   CAL   - Armstrong (try)
Final: 43-10, Cal

Substitutions: 69th minute, Brian McClenahan in for Chris Miller, Joe Androvich in for Tony Vontz, Jacques Wilson in for Kyle Khasigian, 72nd minute, Devin Wright in for Ryan Donnelly, Elliot Geidt in for Andrew Lindsey, 77th minute, Matt Hedges in for Andrew Johnson.

Cal Record: 16-0