Jan. 22, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Cal Rugby took home the champion's plate at the first annual UCLA Tournament on Jan. 22 with a 27-6 victory over an impressive Washington State side. The Golden Bears trailed briefly and overcame a barrage of penalties to score four tries against none for WSU, finishing the weekend unbeaten and improving their record to 6-0 on the season.

"We played quite well, with full credit to Washington State," said coach Jack Clark. "The Cougars are a quality team, one that everyone in collegiate competition will have to reckon with this year. I believe their autumn schedule put them ahead of us in their preparation for the match."

Penalty whistles against the Bears seemed to rain down from an otherwise cloudless sky during the first half, leading to a penalty kick by Washington State in the fifth minute for a 3-0 advantage. It was the first deficit Cal had faced in 2006.

Cal winger Ryan Miller switched the lead to the Bears' favor when he capitalized following a 35-meter rumble by lock Louis Stanfill, making the score 7-3 after Zak Tripplet's conversion.

Playing on their heels from uncharacteristically deep in their end, the Bears withstood a six-phase attack by the Cougars before prop Kevin Kroll received a yellow card for being off his feet at the ruck. A Cougar player was also sent off for dangerous play at the same ruck, leaving both teams a man short for the next 10 minutes.

The Bears saw their lead shrink to one point early in the second half when WSU connected on another penalty kick. Stanfill got Cal's motor going again when he touched down from six meters out. A 25-meter penalty boot from Zak Triplett one minute later made the score 15-6. Sensing the game in their grasp, the Bears followed a Chase Brogan kick deep into WSU territory, blocked the Cougars' attempted counter-kick and hammered away with four phases until prop Cyrus Dorosti scored a try in the left corner.

Flyhalf and match captain Rob Weedon, who bailed Cal out of trouble throughout the day with his foot, raced up the middle and scored in the 57th minute to round out the scoring. "A lot of the pressure was brought on by our own play, but Washington State is a worthy opponent," Weedon said.

Cougars coach Carl Rogers returned the compliment to the Bears. "Cal's the toughest team this club's ever played. We knew we had to play a flawless match to win," he said. "We hope to see Cal again. These are the matches that we play for."

Coach Clark was "quite pleased with our players, based on our ability to control the second half of the match."

Cal's defense was stalwart throughout the tournament, yielding only 14 points in 180 total minutes of play.

Longtime UCLA coach and original US National Team coach Dennis Storer congratulated all the member universities for making the tournament a success. He called the rugby players from the Pac-10 "the pros of the future" and the Golden Bears "icons...and they do it with style."

Cal returns home next Saturday to play UC Davis on Witter Rugby Field at 1 p.m.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Washington State:

05:00 WSU 3

08:00 Ryan Miller 5, Zak Triplett 2

Half Time: California 7, Washington State 3

40:00 WSU 3

42:00 Louis Stanfill 5

43:00 Zak Triplett 3

50:00 Cyrus Dorosti 5

57:00 Rob Weedon 5, Zak Triplett 2

Final Score: California 27, Washington State 6

The Team vs. Washington State

15. O'Brien, 14. Miller, 13. Brogan, 12. Donnelly, 11. Kidd, 10.Weedon ©, 9. Triplett, 1. Dorosti, 2. Biller, 3. Kroll, 4. Snellgrove, 5. Stanfill, 6. Fry (Barrett @ 30:00, Fry @ 37:00), 7. Welch 8. Lindsey