TREASURE ISLAND — The Golden Bears swept Pool A with three wins Saturday to claim a quarterfinal slot Sunday at the West Coast Collegiate 7s on Ray Sheeran Field.
 
California will square off against Utah at 10:20 a.m. in Sunday's first quarterfinal, followed by Arizona vs. Cal Maritime, UCLA vs. UC Davis and Cal Poly vs. USC in the other quarterfinals.
 
If the Bears beat Utah, they advance to the 1:40 p.m. cup semifinal against the Arizona-Cal Maritime winner. The cup final kicks off 3:40 p.m. to end the tournament.
 
The Bears scored 18 tries and surrendered four en route to beating USC, Nevada and CCAC Saturday on the home pitch of San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club.
 
Within its single, mixed squad at the event, Cal sent an all-underclassmen set of starters into the first match of the day against CCAC, a 31-5 win; kept three underclassman among the starters against Nevada, a 54-7 victory; and started four frosh-sophs against the Trojans in a 33-14 win to end the day.
 
Freshman Sam Walsh was 9-of-13 and senior Elliot Webb went 5-for-5 for a combined 77 percent success rate on conversions for the Bears.
 
Among the five freshmen seeing action Saturday was Henry Poon, who said, "Cal is so historically successful, it's been quite a challenge. As freshmen, we're working hard to make an impact."
 
Captain Nic Mirhashem said it will take a better performance than the one Cal put together on Saturday to win the tournament Sunday.
 
"As a team we are happy to take the wins but we were not quite where we wanted to be," he said. "For tomorrow we need to take today's lessons on board."
 
Following Sunday's conclusion of the West Coast Collegiate 7s, preparations turn to the conference tournament on Witter Rugby Field Nov. 3-4, when Cal hosts the 2018 PAC Rugby 7s Championship. The Bears will look to claim the conference crown at home in the two-day event in the same form of the game being contested for medals once again at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. CCAC
 
03:00 Henry Poon 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
04:00 Nick Bloom 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
05:00 CCAC 5
 
Halftime Score: California 14, CCAC 5
 
09:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
11:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
13:00 Sam Walsh 5, 2
 
Final Score: California 31, CCAC 5
 
The Team vs. CCAC
1.Golla, 2. Bloom 3. Freeman, 4. Poon, 5. Walsh, 6. Saunders, 7. Shankland
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. Nevada
 
01:00 Zac Tavenner 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
03:00 Kevin Saunders 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
04:00 Elliot Webb 5, 2
 
05:00 Zac Tavenner 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
07:00 Elliot Webb 5, 2
 
Halftime Score: California 35, Nevada 0
 
08:00 Nevada 5, 2
 
09:00 Sam Walsh 5, 2
 
11:00 Luke Freeman 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
14:00 Sam Walsh 5
 
Final Score: California 54, Nevada 7
 
The Team vs. Nevada
1.Spradling, 2 Severance, 3. Golla, 4. Andrade, 5. Webb, 6. Saunders 7. Tavenner
Replacements: Mirhashem, Walsh, Freeman, Poon
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. USC
 
02:00 Sam Walsh 5, 2
 
04:00 Zachary Tavenner 5, San Walsh 2
 
05:00 USC 5, 2
 
07:00 USC 5, 2
 
Halftime Score: California 14, USC 14
 
08:00 Zachary Tavenner 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
10:00 Nick Bloom 5
 
12:00 Christian Dyer 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
Final Score: California 33, USC 14
 
The Team vs. USC
1.Dyer, 2. Severance, 3. Spradling, 4. Tavenner, 5. Walsh. 6. Shankland, 7. Bloom
Replacements: Mirhashem, Poon