LOS ANGELES – The Golden Bears picked up their first two victories of 2020 on Saturday, defeating both UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego to begin the Dennis Storer Classic at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.
 
A total of 40 players received minutes in Saturday's matches and while a number of starters were sprinkled in, the majority of the Bears' playing time was taken up by reserves. Furthermore, there were 15 individuals who made their Cal rugby 15s debut including all 13 freshman on the team. Among the freshmen was loose head prop Michael Puckett who started Cal's first match against UC Santa Cruz.
 
"We tried to do what the coaches were asking of us: play fast, be physical, and support each other on the field," said Puckett. "It was a learning experience today, but everyone came together in the end."
 
Freshman flyhalf Nate Salter also reiterated how well the underclassmen played today as well as the team's desire to continually improve: "A lot of the freshmen stepped up and it was good for everyone to get a chance to play today," said N. Salter. "There are things for us to work on, but for tomorrow, our main goal is to improve upon where we ended today and take it a step further."
 
Overall, Cal's scoring was evenly distributed with 14 players scoring 17 tries. Meanwhile, the Bears' were 11-for-17 on conversions and missed just two in the match against UC San Diego. With one match left in the tournament, Cal will likely start a near completely different lineup than the first two matches, resulting in everyone on the trip getting a chance to play.  
 
Cal's final match of the Dennis Storer Classic will take place on Sunday, January 19 at 1:30 p.m when the Bears take on host, UCLA at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.  
 
Scoring Timelines:
 
Cal 48, UC Santa Cruz 3
 
01:00 Nathan Zylstra 5
05:00 Jason Severance 5
09:00 Jake Broekhuizen 5, Max Schumacher 2
13:00 Nick Bloom 5, Max Schumacher 2
19:00 Nate Salter 5
Halftime Score: Cal 29, UC Santa Cruz 0
21:00 Nate Salter 5
28:00 Cal Liebowitz 5, Jack Gallagher 2
36:00 UC Santa Cruz 3
40:00 Nick Leusing 5, Nate Salter 2
Starters vs UC Santa Cruz
1. Michael Puckett 2. Nathan Zylstra 3. Nick Leusing 4. George Salter 5. Josh Warnock 6. Garrett Kay 7. Jason Severance 8. Jake Broekhuizen 9. Jack Gallagher 10. Nate Salter 11. Nick Bloom 12. Joe Roeske 13. Kevin Saunders 14. Alex Aguero 15. Max Schumacher
Substitutions:
20:00 – Hugo Berney, Jacob Tuua-Burch, Zach Neff, Matthew Goena, Miles Beaubelle, Cal Liebowitz,
39:00 – Max Clark
 
Cal 59, UC San Diego 7
 
01:00 Garrett Kay 5, Ken Kurihara 2
05:00 UC San Diego 5, 2
10:00 Jack Weigold 5, Ken Kurihara 2
11:00 Jake Broekhuizen 5, Ken Kurihara 2
13:00 Luke Freeman 5, Ken Kurihara 2
Halftime Score: Cal 28, UC San Diego 7
23:00 Gavin Janis 5, Callum Janis 2
30:00 Luke Freeman 5
35:00 Michael Perrone 5
38:00 Gavin Janis 5, Jack Casey 2
40:00 Matthew Dodd 5, Jack Casey 2
Starters vs UC San Diego
1. Jack Weigold 2. Marco Caramanico 3. Owen Duvall 4. Josh Warnock 5. Max Murphy 6. Jake Broekhuizen 7. Garrett Kay 8. Luke Freeman 9. Ken Kurihara 10. Callum Janis 11. Oliver Sharpe 12. Luke Ogburn 13. Gavin Janis 14. Taylor Damron 15. Alex Brundage
Substitutions:
20:00 – Hugo Berney, Zach Neff, Michael Perrone, Max Clark, Jake Shiff, Niki Moore, Matthew Goena
28:00 – Kevin Tuholski, Matthew Dodd, Jack Casey, Cal Liebowitz
31:00 – Jacob Tuua-Burch
35:00 Luke Ogburn,