SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – In its first 7s tournament of the fall, California rugby swept the field in San Luis Obispo, claiming the West Coast Collegiate 7s at Cal Poly title after the Bears' two sides went 8-0.
 
"As I said in the preview, we were ready for some competition lessons and I think we now have a host of things to work on and improve," Head Coach Jack Clark said. "This said, Tom and I are really proud of the boys. To a man, they worked hard and had a real competitive spirit. It's only one tournament, but it's a good start and importantly, we can build from this point forward."
 
Starting out with two pools of four teams each, Cal's squads combined to go 6-0 to claim the top seed in their respective pools, defeating Long Beach State, Fresno State, UCLA, Arizona, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. Then, in the first semifinal, the Bears took down Arizona 19-12 before defeating UCLA 27-21 in the following semifinal match. As a result, both Cal teams were scheduled to face each other in the Cup Final, however the Bears had no need to contest the final match. This is the fifth time that Cal has won this tournament, previously taking home the title in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
 
"It was good to get out with the boys and have a fun day," fifth year Kevin Saunders said. "The whole week, we've focused on playing unselfishly and thinking about the betterment of the team. We did a good job increasing our performance throughout the day, but looking ahead, we need to fine tune our game management and button down our skills overall."
 
All 29 players who traveled to San Luis Obispo received playing time on Saturday and collectively, Cal outscored its opponents 179-93 thanks to 29 tries from 17 different players. Junior Max Clark led the Bears with five scores on the day.
 
Freshman Kealan O'Connell was one of 10 underclassmen to make their 7s debut in the blue and gold. The San Francisco native collected three tries and started in three of his team's four games.
 
"It was all nerves on the bus on the way here," freshman Kealan O'Connell said, reflecting on his first tournament as a Golden Bear. "We had a lot of new guys coming into this tournament who hadn't played sevens all together, but we've been practicing together for weeks now and getting to know each other which I think helped us win some of those close games. Now, we have to keep pushing each other and continuing to get better as we focus on the PAC Rugby 7s Championship next month."
 
Cal will now turn its focus to the PAC Rugby 7s Championship, an eight-team tournament which it will host at Witter Rugby Field November 6-7.
 
To follow Cal rugby this season, be sure to visit CalBears.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 
 
Scoring Timelines:
 
Cal 21, Long Beach State 12
 
2:00 Will Shankland 5, Jon Puckett 2
6:00 Long Beach State 5, Long Beach State 2
7:00 Nate Salter 5, Jack Casey 2
Halftime Score: Cal 14, LBSU 7
9:00 Cal Penalty Try 7
11:00 LBSU 5
 
Starters vs LBSU
Jon Puckett, Jack Casey, Luke Freeman, Nate Salter, Will Shankland, Caleb Tomasin, Luke Ogburn
Substitutions:
11:00 – Callum Janis
11:00 – Luke Ogburn
11:00 – Jafer Snipes
 
Cal 19, Fresno State 12
 
3:00 Max Clark 5, Alex Brundage 2
5:00 Fresno State 5, Fresno State 2
7:00 Fresno State 5
Halftime Score: Cal 7, Fresno State 12
9:00 Cal Liebowitz 5
14:00 Nick Bloom 5, Sam Walsh 2
 
Starters vs Fresno State
Gavin Janis, Jake Broekhuizen, Cal Liebowitz, Max Schumacher, Alex Brundage, Miles Beaubelle, Max Clark
Substitutions:
7:00 – Sam Walsh
7:00 – Seth Purdey
9:00 – Sam Golla
12:00 – Nick Bloom
 
Cal 19, UCLA 12
 
7:00 Mack Fell 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
7:00 Nate Salter 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
Halftime Score: Cal 14, UCLA 0
10:00 UCLA 5, UCLA 2
11:00 Nate Salter 5
14:00 UCLA 5
 
Starters vs UCLA
Mack Fell, Tom Dixon, Evan Weigold , Nate Salter, Callum Janis, Caleb Tomasin, Kealan O'Connell
Substitutions:
9:00 – Luke Freeman
12:00 – Dougie Brown
 
Cal 19, Arizona 7
 
4:00 Arizona 5, Arizona 2
6:00 Kevin Saunders 5, Henry Poon 2
Halftime Score: Cal 7, Arizona
9:00 Sam Walsh 5, Alex Brundage 2
11:00 Alex Brundage 5
 
Starters vs Arizona
Kevin Saunders, Sam Walsh, Sam Golla, Alex Brundage, Seth Purdey, Henry Poon, Nick Bloom
Substitutions:
7:00 – Max Clark
12:00 – Cal Liebowitz­­
 
Cal 19, Cal Poly 17
 
1:00 Kealan O'Connell 5
3:00 Kealan O'Connell 5, Nate Salter 2
5:00 Cal Poly 5, Caly Poly 2
7:00 Cal Poly 5
Halftime Score: Cal 12, Cal Poly 12
8:00 Jack Casey 5, Jack Casey 2
11:00 Cal Poly 5
 
Starters vs Cal Poly
Jon Puckett, Mack Fell, Luke Freeman, Evan Weigold, Nate Salter, Caleb Tomasin, Kealan O'Connell
Substitutions:
7:00 – Jack Casey
8:00 – Tom Dixon
10:00 – Jafer Snipes
11:00 – Luke Ogburn
 
Cal 36, UC Santa Barbara 0
 
2:00 Max Clark 5, Max Clark 2
3:00 Max Schumacher 5
7:00 Nathan Zylstra 5
Halftime Score: Cal 17, UCSB 0
8:00 Jake Broekhuizen 5, Max Schumacher 2
12:00 Max Clark 5, Max Schumacher 2
14:00 Cal Liebowitz 5
 
Starters vs UCSB
Gavin Janis, Nathan Zylstra, Jake Broekhuizen, Max Schumacher, Miles Beaubelle, Nick Bloom, Max Clark
Substitutions:
11:00 – Cal Liebowitz
11:00 – Kevin Saunders
 
Cal 19, Arizona 12 (Semifinal)
 
3:00 Jack Casey 5, Nate Salter 2
5:00 Arizona 5, Arizona 2
7:00 Jafer Snipes 5
Halftime Score: Cal 12, Arizona 7
9:00 Kealan O'Connell 5, Nate Salter 2
10:00 Arizona 5
 
Starters vs Arizona
Dougie Brown, Mack Fell, Jack Casey, Luke Freeman, Nate Salter, Jafer Snipes, Kealan O'Connell
Substitutions:
7:00 – Tom Dixon
7:00 – Griffin Rudy
13:00 Luke Ogburn
 
Cal 27, UCLA 21 (Semifinal)
 
1:00 Nathan Zylstra 5
3:00 UCLA 5, UCLA 2
4:00 Max Clark 5
7:00 Max Clark 5, Sam Walsh 2
Halftime Score: Cal 17, UCLA 7
8:00 UCLA 5, UCLA 2
10:00 Seth Purdey 5
12:00 Miles Beaubelle 5
14:00 UCLA 5, UCLA 2
 
Starters vs UCLA
Kevin Saunders, Nathan Zylstra, Sam Walsh, Sam Golla, Seth Purdey, Henry Poon, Max Clark
Substitutions:
11:00 – Alex Brundage
11:00 – Miles Beaubelle
13:00 – Max Schumacher