RUGBY1/21/2007 12:00 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Bears Beat Bruins 43-3 in UCLA Tourney Final

Jan. 21, 2007

LOS ANGELES - In Sunday's meeting between the hosts of the UCLA Tournament and the defending tournament champion, California defeated the Bruins, 43-3, to win the event for the second straight year. A 63-7 victory over Loyola Marymount earlier in the day gave the Bears a 6-0 weekend result and brought Cal's record to 9-0 overall entering league play next weekend.

It took 20 minutes for Cal to get on the scoreboard against UCLA, but the Bears built on fullback Chris Gurecki's penalty kick to enter halftime with a 17-3 lead and come away with an eventual 40-point victory. Sustained pressure served Cal well through several quick whistles in the final against the Bruins. The Bears maintained a high-velocity pace and ended the tournament having yielded only one try in five matches. "The tempo between phases was excellent," said head coach Jack Clark of the effort in the final.

A late scratch was senior All-American Rikus Pretorius, who is expected to be fine for Cal's next match against UC Davis.

Cal sent a reserve-grade side to play Loyola Marymount's first XV earlier in the day, kicking off Sunday's action with an impressive effort. The Bears yielded one try, awarded by the referee after a Lion was caught from behind with a shirt-collar tackle during a breakaway. A wave of underclassmen entered the fray for Cal as it sealed the deal against Loyola Maryomout, including Los Angeles locals David Rutkowski and Eric Strack, both graduates of Loyola High School who played on the L.A. Cougars U-19 team.

As they begin preparations for league action against UC Davis on Saturday, the Bears can evaluate their play in Los Angeles quite deep into the roster. "As we noted coming into the weekend, there were a lot of minutes and we spread them around pretty liberally," said Clark. "All in all, the performances were pretty solid."

Cal hosts UC Davis on Witter Rugby Field at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.

The Team vs. UCLA:

15. Gurecki (Taylor @ 45:00), 14. Lee (Lopez @ 45:00), 13. Brogan © (Hawley @ 45:00) , 12. Golding, 11. Kidd, 10. Castles (Poettcker @ 45:00), 9. Wright, 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Biller, 3. J. Barrett, 4. Fry, 5. Cross (Jesseman @ 30:00), 6. Biestman, 7. Welch (Balough @ 45:00), 8. Stanfill (Law @ 55:00)

The Scoring Timeline vs. UCLA:

19:00 Chris Gurecki 3

21:00 Gary Golding 5, Chris Gurecki 2

25:00 Jason Lee 5, Chris Gurecki 2

28:00 UCLA 3

Half Time: Cal 17, UCLA 3

32:00 Chris Biller 5

40:00 Chase Brogan 5, Chris Gurecki 2

52:00 Eduardo Lopez 5, David Poettcker 2

57:00 Jason Law 5, David Poettcker 2

Final Score Cal 43, UCLA 3

The Team vs. Loyola Marymount:

15. O'Brien (Gallinger @ 50:00), 14.Muhn, 13. L. Watson, 12. D. Watson (Pugh @ 70:00), 11. Harris, 10. Floyd, 9. Mase (Howard @ 60:00), 1. Estrella (Strack @ 50:00), 2. Kuhns, 3. Kilroy (Rutkowski @ 70:00), 4. Vaught, 5. Smith (Strong @ 50:00), 6. Rooke, 7. Sehr ©, 8. Keady (Law @ 40:00)

The Scoring Timeline vs. Loyola Marymount:

15:00 Ryan Harris 5

17:00 Dustin Muhn 5, Nathaniel Floyd 2

23:00 Dustin Watson 5, Nathaniel Floyd 2

26:00 Loyola Marymount 5, 2

33:00 Ross Kilroy 5, Nathaniel Floyd 2

36:00 Ryan Harris 5, Nathaniel Floyd 2

Half Time: Cal 33, Loyola Marymount 7

48:00 Tom Rooke 5

56:00 Dustin Muhn 5

63:00 Lucas Watson 5

70:00 Ryan Harris 5