BERKELEY – California beat British Columbia, 24-22, Saturday on Witter Rugby Field as sophomore outside center Adam Roeske scored two of the Golden Bears' three tries and Cal led most of the match against the Thunderbirds. The Bears will travel to Vancouver, Canada, for the second match in the annual series on March 3.
 
"Really pleased for the boys that they got the result," head coach Jack Clark said. "Slightly disappointed we weren't more clinical in the second half, but the match is meant to be a learning experience and it was."
 
Lock Sebastian Bader scored Cal's first try in the 20th minute and flyhalf Elliot Webb finished with nine points on a made penalty (1-for-1) to open the scoring and three conversions (3-for-3). British Columbia got tries from winger Evan Norris in the first half followed by tries by flyhalf Nick Collett, flanker Jacob Ikeda and Canada international outside center Ben Lasage in the second stanza.
 
Bader, making his first start of the year, said, "Finally being able to come back from an injury and put it all on the field with my brothers, I couldn't be happier."
 
"Cal came out with some serious intensity that we didn't really react to quickly enough," said UBC coach Bruce Rainer. "I'm proud of the boys for coming back, although it wasn't quite enough. It's a great rivalry and this is a fantastic setting."
 
Having built a 19-point halftime lead, the Bears made errors in the second half that helped the T-Birds to make their run. Among the mistakes, wing Marcus Shankland was driven into touch to end a scoring threat with a turnover; replacement flyhalf Sam Walsh was held up outside the UBC goal line for another turnover, then missed touch following a penalty; and replacement scrumhalf Keanu Andrade was guilty of two more turnovers after entering the contest, all of which ended further scoring chances for the Blue and Gold while affording further opportunities to UBC.
 
While happy with their strong start, the Bears are aware that it will require complete performances to beat the best. "We were in the right mindset from the go," said Roeske. "We managed to stop their attack and we're quite happy with the result, but we're going to need to improve."
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. British Columbia
 
04:00 Elliot Webb 3
 
13:00 UBC (Evan Norris) 5
 
20:00 Sebastian Bader 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
32:00 Adam Roeske 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
36:00 Adam Roeske 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
Halftime Score: California 24, British Columbia 5
 
57:00 UBC (Nick Collett) 5
 
68:00 UBC (Jacob Ikeda) 5
 
82:00 UBC (Ben Lasage) 5, (Flynn Heyes) 2
 
Final Score: California 24, British Columbia 22
 
The Team vs. British Columbia
 
15. Lockyear, 14. Cusano, 13. A. Roeske (Purdy @ 70:00), 12. Dyer,  11. Shankland, 10. Webb (Walsh @ 55:00), 9. Poon (Andrade @ 70:00), 1. Iscaro (Duvall @ 14:00, Iscaro @ 28:00), 2. Manzo, 3. Wiley, 4. Murphy (Salter @ 70:00), 5. Bader (Golla @ 73:00), 6. Spradling, 7. Mirhashem, 8. Casey (Holland @ 55:00)