BERKELEY – Cal rugby defeated Utah on a picturesque day in Strawberry Canyon, extending its spring XV's record to 8-0. Three student-athletes recorded a hat trick, with Alex Brundage, Mack Fell and Joe Kirsten each contributing three a-piece against the Utes.
 
"No one wants score-lines with disparity," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "Credit to the Utes for staying at the contest. I thought we demonstrated good continuity considering the 12 changes from last week. With both co-captains not selected, I think Cal Liebowitz did a really fine job leading the team today. He played well and put a lot of work into his captaincy."  
 
Brundage opened up the scoring with a pair of tries in minutes 5 and 8. Utah took a penalty kick in the 11th minute to put points on the board, but freshman Rand Santos answered with back-to-back tries in minutes 12 and 19 to extend the Bears' lead.
 
Matt Vranesh pushed a score in three minutes later and Caleb Tomasin added another at the 28th minute. Fell and Kirsten scored two minutes apart from one another and No. 8 Alex Aguero took a big run in from the 50-yard line to add another score before the half expired. The Utes put another penalty kick on the scoresheet at the 40-minute mark to bring their total up to six at the intermission.
 
The Bears shutout the Utes in the second half, preventing Utah from adding to its score and collecting another 10 tries in the process. Fell put his second score of the day on the board one minute into the second half and Kirsten added his second try four minutes later.
 
Junior Charlie Walsh then pushed his way into the tryzone in his first match of 2023 after being sidelined due to injury for the first part of the season.
 
"It felt really good to be back out there," Walsh said. "Being able to run out there with the boys was pretty surreal. I couldn't have gotten to where I am today without the support of family, teammates, coaches and doctors. I'm grateful that I got the opportunity to wear the jersey again."
 
Fell added his third try four minutes later and at minute 57 freshman Oliver Newall ran a ball in. Brundage added his third score in the 60th minute and Jack Casey touched down three minutes later.
 
Kirsten put his third try on the scoresheet five minutes later and at minute 78, Casey crossed the tryline for the second time to add another score. Freshman Michál de Beer capped off the scoring with a try as the clock hit zero, and Casey converted. Kealan O'Connell went 11-for-15 on the extras to lift the final score to 119-6 in favor of the Bears.
 
Cal returns to Witter Rugby field next Saturday for its Homecoming celebration. The Bears face the Arizona Wildcats, with a reserve-grade curtain-raiser match to begin at 11 a.m. PT and the varsity match to follow directly after at 1 p.m. PT.
 
Scoring Timeline:
Cal vs Utah
5:00 – Brundage 5, O'Connell 2
8:00 – Brundage 5, O'Connell 2
11:00 – Utah 3
12:00 – Santos 5, O'Connell 2
19:00 – Santos 5, O'Connell 2
22:00 – Vranesh 5
28:00 – Tomasin 5, O'Connell 2
32:00 – Fell 5, O'Connell 2
34:00 – Kirsten 5, O'Connell 2
36:00 – Aguero 5
40:00 – Utah 3
Half: Cal 59, Utah 6
41:00 – Fell 5, O'Connell 2
45:00 – Kirsten 5, O'Connell 2
46:00 – Walsh 5
50:00 – Fell 5, O'Connell 2
57:00 – Newall 5
60:00 – Brundage 5, O'Connell 2
63:00 – Casey 5
68:00 – Kirsten 5
78:00 – Casey 5
80:00 – De Beer 5, Casey 2
Final: Cal 119, Utah 6
 
Starting XV:
1. Josh Mao 2. Matt Vranesh 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Hugo Schreuder 5. Tom Dixon 6. Jon Puckett 7. Cal Liebowitz 8. Alex Aguero 9. Caleb Tomasin 10. Kealan O'Connell 11. Alex Brundage 12. Mack Fell 13. Rand Santos 14. Joe Kirsten 15. Oliver Newall
 
Substitutions:
Half – Michál de Beer, Brett Dowgiewicz, Miles Malone
48:00 – Cade Crist, Clayton Seastrand
60:00 – Dom Paga, Jack Casey
78:00 – Michael Puckett
 
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