Feb. 12, 2010
LAS VEGAS - Knowing they were facing a San Diego State team that had most of its starters back from the 2009 campaign that took the Aztecs to the national semifinals, California hit the ground sizzling on Friday at the Las Vegas Invitational, building a 29-0 lead in 13 minutes that helped to carry the Golden Bears to win, 52-19.
The Bears created their lead with six first-half tries, including a pair from winger Blaine Scully, as well as six points off a penalty kick and drop goal from flyhalf Keegan Engelbrecht.
San Diego State recorded the first three tries of the year against the Bears but it would not be enough as Cal improved to 14-0 while the Aztecs dropped to 5-1.
"We were a little bit shell-shocked early on by the pace and velocity and strength Cal plays with," said Aztecs head coach Matt Sherman, a former Cal All-America player and assistant coach. "It was the first time we've been down and I was really proud of our guys that they didn't pack up their bags and go home."
Friday was the first meeting between Cal and SDSU since the 2007 national quarterfinals, when the Bears advanced past the Aztecs convincingly. San Diego State is among the handful of U.S. college teams to have beaten Cal in the last 25 years, having defeated Cal and head coach Jack Clark in his fourth year at the helm, 1987.
"We put a lot of effort into coming out and starting with a really big explosion of emotion and energy," said scrumhalf Andrew Mase, "We have a lot of respect for Matt Sherman as a coach and a former player. They gave us a tough time."
San Diego State got two tries from Dave Buboltz and its third from Chris Bredesen, with the final two converted by Duncan Kelm. The second half saw the Aztecs outscore Cal, 14-6.
"There's no silver bullet, you just have to do all the fundamentals right," said Sherman.
The test was a perfect opportunity for Cal to prove itself under pressure, and the team did just that, withstanding the challenge from the Aztecs in front of legions of supporters for both programs. "We played good rugby today and seeing all the family and friends make the trip, it's great to see all the support we have," said prop Jeremy Deterding
"It's something we were looking forward to and there was a lot of good rugby out there," said Scully of the rivalry between the two sides.
Earlier in the day, in the first-ever meeting between Cal and Western Washington, the Bears came away with a 99-0 victory as inside center Jared Braun notched five tries in only one half of action.
The Bears wind up their LVI competition on Saturday, Feb. 13, with a match against Minnesota at 10 a.m. (Field 5). Fans can get real-time scoring updates on Twitter @CalRugbyScoring.
More information on the Las Vegas Invitational is available here.
The Scoring Timeline vs. San Diego State
02:00 Dustin Muhn 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
06:00 Derek Asbun 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
09:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3
11:00 Seamus Kelly 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
13:00 Blaine Scully 5
18:00 SDSU (Dave Buboltz) 5
21:00 Blaine Scully 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
29:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3
38:00 Colin Hawley 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2
Halftime: California 46, San Diego State 5
44:00 SDSU (Dave Buboltz) 5, (Duncan Kelm) 2
46:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3
66:00 Keegan Engelbrecht 3
67:00 SDSU (Chris Bredesen) 5, (Duncan Kelm) 2
Final Score: California 52, San Diego State 19
The Team vs. San Diego State:
15. Bailes, 14. Muhn, 13. Hawley (Gallinger @ 54:00), 12. Kelly, 11. Scully, 10. Engelbrecht, 9. Mase, 1. Deterding, 2. N. Barrett, 3. Besser, 4. D. Hyjer (Law @ 39:00), 5. Fry ©, 6. Asbun, 7. Rooke, 8. D. Barrett
The Scoring Timeline vs. Western Washington:
06:00 Jared Braun 5, Brandon Kraft 2
11:00 Jared Braun 5
20:00 Josh Tucker 5, Brandon Kraft 2
22:00 Daniel Collins 5, Brandon Kraft 2
26:00 Jared Braun 5, Brandon Kraft 2
31:00 Daniel Collins 5, Brandon Kraft 2
34:00 Jared Braun 5, Brandon Kraft 2
37:00 Jared Braun 5, Brandon Kraft 2
42:00 Nick Westerman 5, Brandon Kraft 2
Halftime: California 61, Western Washington 0
47:00 Tanner Mohr 5, Brandon Kraft 2
52:00 John Trawick 5, Alex Aronson 2
64:00 Brad Harrington 5
68:00 Robert Kelley 5
71:00 Jose Peña 5, Andre Coquillard 2
75:00 John Trawick 5, Andre Coquillard 2
Final Score: California 99, Western Washington 0
The Team vs. Western Washington
15. Collins, 14. Tucker, 13. Kraft (Smith @ 49:00), 12. Braun (Harrington @ 38:00), 11. Giles (Trawick @ 49:00), 10. Aronson, 9. Caravelli (Peña @ 49:00), 1. Mohr, 2. Kelley, 3. DeAnda (Huntley @ 41:00), 4. Purdy (Thomas @ 41:00), 5. Bowman, 6. Welch, 7. Colin ©, 8. Westerman
