LOS ANGELES – California rugby defeated host UCLA (38-8) on Sunday, going 3-0 in the tournament and winning its 16th-consecutive Dennis Storer Classic.
 
"We played some patches of skillful organized rugby today. Possibly more so than in the Saturday matches," head coach Jack Clark said. "We also had a few skill breakdowns that we will need to correct to reach our potential. It feels like the season is off and running which is good. Being on a team battling together through the challenges is a special opportunity."
 
Senior Nathan Zylstra got the Bears on the board early in Sunday's contest, scoring a try in the fifth-minute. The Bruins responded to score eight unanswered points with UCLA scoring a penalty kick and taking advantage of a Cal turnover to score a try. However, senior Kevin Saunders managed to punch one in during the final minute of the half to retake the lead, 14-8. It was all Bears from that point on as Cal scored four tries in the second half while keeping UCLA at bay.
 
"Our intent in the second half had to be better," senior captain Sam Golla said. "I think we definitely showed improvement from start to finish which is ultimately what we want."
 
The Bears scored six tries against the Bruins while seniors Nathan Zylstra and Marcus Shankland each scored twice. The other try scorers were seniors Kevin Saunders and Nick Bloom. Junior Max Schumacher was successful in four out of six conversion attempts.
 
"One of the big things for us this season is being able to identify what we need to fix as a team," Bloom said. "At halftime, we realized that we weren't executing our plan, so we took a couple of deep breaths and came together for the second half."
 
Throughout the weekend's three games, 13 Bears combined to score 16 tries. Three came away with two apiece: Zylstra, M. Shankand (both against UCLA) and senior Jake Shiff (UC Santa Cruz).
 
Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, Golla echoed Bloom's sentiments about making adjustments as a group.
 
"I'm happy that everyone approached this tournament with a solid effort, but we need to learn to build off of our mistakes and get better from them. If we are able to do that collectively, then we have a chance to be a successful rugby team."
 
The Bears will be back in action next weekend when they host Santa Clara on Saturday, January 22 at 1pm. PT.
 
For complete coverage of Cal rugby, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalVarsityRugby), Instagram (@CalVarsityRugby) and Facebook (/CalVarsityRugby/).
 
Scoring Timeline:
 
Game 3
Cal 38, UCLA 8
 
5:00 — Nathan Zylstra 5, Max Schumacher 2
9:00 — UCLA 5
14:00 — UCLA 3
22:00 — Kevin Saunders 5, Max Schumacher 2
Halftime Score: Cal 14, UCLA 8
23:00 — Nathan Zylstra 5, Max Schumacher 2
37:00 — Nick Bloom 5, Max Schumacher 2
38:00 — Marcus Shankland 5
42:00 — Marcus Shankland 5
 
Starters vs UCLA
1. Clayton Seastrand 2. Jack Manzo 3.Charlie Walsh 4. Sam Golla 5. Tom Dixon 6. Jake Broekhuizen 7. Nathan Zylstra 8. Luke Freeman 9. Max Clark 10. Kealan O'Connell 11. Marcus Shankland 12. Kevin Saunders 13. Will Shankland 14. Nick Bloom 15. Max Schumacher
 
Substitutions:
22:00 — Jack Gallagher, Jason Severance, Seth Purdey
37:00 — Henry Poon, Nate Salter
38:00 — Cal Liebowitz, Michael Perrone
41:00 — Luke Ogburn