Jan. 21, 2006
The Bears seek to win the UCLA Tournament in tomorrow's final against Washington State after putting together a string of victories over USC (19-0), Oregon State (22-5) and Washington (41-3) on the opening day of the inaugural Pac-10 get-together.
Washington State went 4-0 on Saturday, culminating with a 38-0 drubbing of UCLA, to secure its place in the final against the Bears. The battle for first place kicks off at 1:30 pm on UCLA's North Athletic Fields.
Coach Jack Clark called the Bears' three-match day "a bit uneven, probably because we used three different lineups. It's a bit awkward to play these abbreviated games, with 20-minute halves. It's tactically a very different challenge for us and I think we struggled with it to a certain degree.
"We continued to struggle with our accuracy in the first two games and I thought that improved in the third game."
Looking ahead to tomorrow's match-up against Washington State, Clark said he was "hopeful that that we can play 80 minutes of solid rugby. In the second week of the season, I'm far more concerned with our performance than the result, but with that being said, there's a game to be played and that means there's a game for someone to win."
USC Recap
Despite a landslide of penalties that threatened to short-circuit its efforts, Cal kept the Trojans out of the try zone and won its opening match of the day with a 19-0 effort.
Outside center Chase Brogan entered the fray as a substitute in the 15th minute and scored twice for the Bears. Both tries came courtesy of nifty miss passes from flyhalf Zak Triplett at the USC 10-meter line.
Triplett and the Bears' back line received clean ball all match from scrumhalf and match captain Brendan Wright.
Ross Biestman, playing #8, led the Cal pack as it held the Trojans at bay. Freshman Julian Snellgrove, a 6-7 lock, reeled in every Cal lineout thrown his way and stole several USC throw-ins as well for good measure.
USC coach Dave Lytle called the Bears "just overpowering. They have the finest coach in college rugby (in Jack Clark). It's just fun to interact with a team like that. It's just absolute class."
The Scoring Timeline vs. USC:
03:00 Colin Hawley 5
18:00 Chase Brogan 5, Pat Castles 2
Half Time: California 12, USC 0
32:00 Chase Brogan 5, Pat Castles 2
Final Score: California 19, USC O
The Team vs. USC:
15. Castles, 14. Harris, 13. Hawley (Brogan @15:00), 12. Yokubaitis, 11. Lopez (Minahan @ 39:00), 10. Triplett, 9. Wright ©, 1. Barrett, 2. King, 3. Kilroy, 4. Vaught, 5. Snellgrove, 6. LaBounty, 7. Reed, 8. Biestman
Oregon State Recap
After building a 22-0 lead, the Bears fumbled and stumbled their way to the finish line against Oregon State, yielding a try in injury time to emerge with a 22-5 win.
Scrumhalf Andrew Johnson got Cal on the board early, diving onto his own squib kick after it ricocheted off a goalpost following a spoiled Beaver scrum deep in their own end.
Prop Sean Wilhelmy increased Cal's lead to 12-0 six minutes later when he crashed into the right corner following a penalty-induced lineout to the Bears. A try by James Keady from Johnson made it 17-0 at the half.
Turnovers plagued the Bears' second-half performance until Chase Brogan notched another try off a miss pass from David Poetteker in the 36th minute.
Credit the Beavers for continuing to chop wood, as they hammered away in Cal territory until they were rewarded with a try after another post-penalty lineout in the right corner, just before the referee whistled full time.
"Mentally, we stuck in the game," said Oregon State coach Duffin McShane. "We showed some character and I was really proud of that."
The Scoring Timeline vs. Oregon State:
02:00 Andrew Johnson 5, David Poetteker 2
08:00 Sean Wilhelmy 5
20:00 James Keady 5
Half Time: California 17, Oregon State 0
36:00 Chase Brogan 5
42:00 Oregon State 5
Final Score: California 22, Oregon State 5
The Team vs. Oregon State:
15. Taylor, 14. Pieracci, 13. Brogan, 12. Yokubaitis, 11. Kidd (Watson @ 36:00), 10. Poetteker, 9. Johnson, 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Kuhns, 3. Kroll, 4. Smith T., 5. Jesseman, 6. Keady (LaBounty @ 23:00), 7. Sehr ©, 8. Fry
Washington Recap
The Golden Bears, determined to give a performance worth of their #1 seeding, wrapped up pool play with a 41-3 thumping of Washington to earn a place in Sunday's contest for first place in the UCLA Tournament.
Six different players scored tries for Cal, starting with outside center Pat Castles, who dashed up the middle from 15 meters to get things underway. Ryan Miller touched down a rambling 80-meter attack two minutes later, ending a multi-phase effort highlighted by dynamic bursts from inside center Ryan Donnelly. Donnelly got into the scoring act too shortly after, thanks to a 50-meter penetration by flyhalf Rob Weedon.
Tries by fullback Connor O'Brien and hooker Joe Welch wrapped up the first-half bonanza for the Bears.
The Huskies missed a penalty kick in a vain attempt to get in the scoring column before halftime, but made good on their next attempt when play resumed, bringing the score to 29-3. Two side-stepping runs from David Poetteker, in for Weedon, ended with scores by the flyhalf as well as winger Nick Yancey to end the day on a high note.
Huskies coach Kevin Waizenhofer was satisfied with his team's effort despite the final score. "We're really young. I was happy with our effort."
The Scoring Timeline vs. Washington:
02:00 Pat Castles 5, 2
04:00 Ryan Miller 5
09:00 Ryan Donnelly 5
10:00 Conor O'Brien, Pat Castles 2
15:00 Joe Welch 5
Half Time: California 29, Washington 0
25:00 Washington 3
30:00 David Poetteker 5, 2
39:00 Nick Yancey 5
The Team vs. Washington:
15. O'Brien, 14. Miller (Yancey, T. @ 12:00), 13. Castles (Busch @35:00), 12. Donnelly, 11. Harris (Watson @ 35:00), 10. Weedon (Poetteker @ 15:00), 9. Burrows (Lee @15:00), 1. Barrett, 2. Welch, 3. Dorosti (Wilhelmy @ 15:00), 4. Snellgrove, 5. Stanfill, L. (Jesseman @15:00), 6. Balough, 7. Sehr (Strong @ 35:00), 8. Lindsey © (Biestman @15:00)
