March 21, 2004

BERKELEY, Calif. - The California varsity rugby team defeated Washington, 71-5 in the final of the California Invitational on Sunday at Witter Rugby Field. The Golden Bears ran off 65 unanswered points before the Dogs scored their only try in the 72nd minute.

The Bears hauled in 12 tries, mostly in the forwards as freshman flanker Joseph Welch and senior All-American Mike MacDonald touched down four times each. Cal played a vertical game that left the Huskies having to pull in more and more resources, leaving huge undefended gaps. All in all, the hard driving play of the Cal forwards accounted for 10 of the 12 tries on the afternoon.

Cal coach Jack Clark was satisfied with his team's improvement: "The team should be pleased with that performance. We were determined to keep our work rate high for the full contest and I believe we did so. Its uncanny how much execution improves with good old hard work."

The first try came 15 minutes into the match. After several phases of play, the Cal varsity moved the ball wide to find props Cyrus Dorosti and MacDonald on the wing. Dorosti drove to the line and passed to MacDonald for the Bears' first score. Andrew Blair then converted his first of nine.

Just past the 20-minute mark, Cal shifted into another gear that left its counterparts with no answers, scoring from a scrum and a lineout in close and then off consecutive restarts. A couple of well placed box kicks were recovered by the Bears, and then following a flurry of hard charges by the forwards, Robert Weedon went over followed by MacDonald three minutes later. This left Cal ahead, 33-0, at the intermission.

The Cal varsity pack got right back on the job in the 41st minute, as MacDonald scored his fourth of the afternoon from a lineout drive. Welch notched three in a row for himself, from some heads up support play following line breaks.

The try of the match came in the 67th minute, when fly half Kyle Khasigian kicked a cross field highball for Andrew Hanks to run under, and Hanks caught the ball in full flight and went over the Huskies line untouched.

With eight minutes remaining, Washington scored of a quick tap penalty close in to avoid the shut out. Welch answered back for the Bears at the very end of regulation, scoring his fourth and leaving the final score California 71, Washington 5.

In the consolation match, San Diego State defeated UCLA, 47-36. The Cal varsity now travels to Vancouver, B.C., for the second half of its series with long-time Canadian rival UBC on March 27. The Bears' next home match is April 3 vs. Cal Poly.

The Team:

15. Blair, 14. Wilson, 13. Weedon, 12. Donnelley, (Brogan, 28, [Gurecki, 63]),11.Hanks,10.Khasigian, 9. DiGiorgio, 8. Boggs, 7. Welch, 6. Stanfill, (Burruel, 60), 5. Garamendi, 4. Tausend, 3. MacDonald, (Captain), (McDivitt, 76), 2. Vontz, 1. Doristi.

The Scoring:

Trys: MacDonald (4), Boggs, Stanfill, Weedon, Welch (4), Hanks.

Cons: Blair (9)