SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — A mostly frosh-soph Golden Bear squad went unbeaten through pool play and reached the cup final while a second California side took third place in the Blue and Gold's eight-match season opener Saturday at the West Coast Collegiate 7s hosted by Cal Poly.
 
In Pool B of the event's top division, the underclassmen-heavy "Bears" started their day with a 22-19 win over Arizona, then defeated Santa Clara, 22-5, and Southern California, 45-0, to earn a meeting with UCLA in the cup final, where the young Bears fell to the Bruins, 29-20.
 
 "I thought there was some real positive takeaways from the frosh-soph team in particular," said head coach Jack Clark. "They could have been even better, when you keep in mind that we borrowed four good frosh-sophs to booster the upperclassmen side."
 
Meanwhile in Pool A, a more experienced "Cal" side came up against a determined Cal Poly team, falling 19-17 before UCLA dealt "Cal" a 24-12 defeat that included an injury to All-America wing Sam Cusano. The upperclassmen bounced back to end their day with a 36-0 win over San Diego State followed by a 20-5 win over Arizona.
 
"The upperclassmen side wasn't all that good," coach Clark said. "We're missing the guys that are out and we just didn't get many outstanding upperclassmen performances," coach Clark said. "Of course, the one upperclassmen who played really well was Sam Cusano before we lost him to injury."
 
The Golden Bears return to campus with a 5-3 start to their autumn 7s campaign. Next up for the Blue and Gold is the Treasure Island stop of the West Coast Collegiate 7s on Oct. 19-20, followed by the PAC 7s Conference Tournament at Stanford Nov. 9-10, as the Rugby Bears continue to refine the form of the game featuring at the Summer Olympic Games in 2020.
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. Cal Poly
 
02:00 Jack Gallagher 5
 
04:00 Cal Poly 5
 
07:00 Sam Walsh 5, 2
 
Halftime Score: Cal 12, Cal Poly 5
 
09:00 Max Schumacher 5
 
10:00 Cal Poly 5, 2
 
13:00 Cal Poly 5, 2
 
Final Score: Cal Poly 19, Cal 17
 
The Team vs. Cal Poly
 
1.Freeman, 2. Andrade, 3. Holland, 4. Gallagher, 5. Walsh, 6. Saunders, 7. Damron
Replacements: Cusano, Greene, Schumacher, A. Roeske, Spradling
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. Arizona
 
02:00 Nate Salter 5
 
04:00 Alex Brundage 5
 
07:00 Arizona 5, 2
 
Halftime Score: Bears 10, Arizona 7
 
08:00 Arizona 5
 
10:00 Nathan Zylstra 5, Alex Brundage 2
 
13:00 Jake Broekhuizen 5
 
14:00 Arizona 5, 2
 
Final Score: Bears 22, Arizona 19
 
The Team vs. Arizona
 
1.Zylstra, 2. Bloom, 3. Broekhuizen, 4. Clark, 5. N. Salter, 6. J. Roeske, 7. Brundage
Replacements: Richards-Smith, Liebowitz
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. UCLA
 
02:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
04:00 Marcus Shankland 5, Max Schumacher 2
 
05:00 UCLA 5, 2
 
07:00 UCLA 5
 
Halftime Score: Cal 12, UCLA 12
 
09:00 UCLA 5
 
13:00 UCLA 5, 2
 
Final Score: UCLA 24, Cal 12
 
The Team vs. UCLA
 
1.Greene, 2. Cusano, 3. Spradling, 4. Schumacher, 5. Walsh, 6. Purdey, 7. Shankland
Replacements: Freeman, Andrade, Holland
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. Santa Clara
 
02:00 Garrett Kay 5
 
06:00 Alex Brundage 5
 
Halftime Score: Bears 10, Santa Clara 0
 
09:00 Max Clark 5
 
11:00 Santa Clara 5
 
14:00 Max Clark 5, Nate Salter 2
 
Final Score: Bears 22, Santa Clara 5
 
The Team vs. Santa Clara
 
1.Zylstra, 2. Liebowitz, 3. Kay, 4. Brundage, 5. Casey, 6. C. Janis7. Beaubelle
Replacements: Neff, Richards-Smith, Clark, Salter, Shiff
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. SDSU
 
01:00 Marcus Shankland 5, Jack Gallagher 2
 
7:00 Ethan Greene 5
 
Halftime Score: Cal 12, SDSU 0
 
08:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
10:00 Jack Gallagher 5, 2
 
12:00 Jack Gallagher 5
 
13:00 Seth Purdey 5, Jack Gallagher 2
 
Final Score: Cal 36, SDSU 0
 
The Team vs. SDSU
 
1.Greene, 2. Saunders, 3. Spradling, 4. Gallagher, 5. A. Roeske, 6. Damron, 7. Shankland
Replacements: Freeman, Andrade, Holland
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. USC
 
02:00 Nate Salter 5, 2
 
04:00 Miles Beaubelle 5, Alex Brundage 2
 
06:00 Alex Brundage 5, 2
 
07:00 Nate Salter 5, 2
 
Halftime Score: Bears 28, USC 0
 
08:00 Joe Roeske 5
 
13:00 Zach Neff 5, Jack Casey 2
 
14:00 Blake Richards-Smith 5
 
Final Score: Bears 45, USC 0
 
The Team vs USC
1.Broekhuizen, 2. Bloom, 3. Zylstra, 4. Brundage, 5. N. Salter, 6. J. Roeske, 7. Beaubelle
Replacements: Richards-Smith, Liebowitz, Neff, Casey, Shiff
 
The Cal 3rd/4th Scoring Timeline vs. Arizona
 
03:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
05:00 Seth Purdey 5
 
07:00 Arizona 5
 
Halftime Score: Cal 10, Arizona 5
 
09:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
13:00 Sam Walsh 5
 
Final Score: Cal 20, Arizona 5
 
The Team vs. Arizona
 
1.Freeman, 2. Saunders, 3. Spradling, 4. Gallagher, 5. Walsh, 6. Purdey, 7. Schumacher
Replacements: Holland, Andrade, A. Roeske, Damron
 
The Bears cup final Scoring Timeline vs. UCLA
 
01:00 Cal Liebowitz 5
 
03:00 UCLA 5
 
04:00 UCLA 5, 2
 
06:00 UCLA 5, 2
 
07:00 Jack Casey 5
 
Halftime Score: UCLA 19, Bears 10
 
08:00 UCLA 5
 
09:00 Cal Liebowitz 5
 
10:00 Cal Liebowitz 5
 
13:00 UCLA 5
 
Final Score: UCLA 29, Bears 20
 
The Team vs. UCLA
 
1.Broekhuizen, 2. Liebowitz, 3. Zylstra, 4. Brundage, 5. Salter, 6. Beaubelle, 7. Bloom
Replacements: Neff, Kay, Richards-Smith