LOS ANGELES – California rugby shutout UCLA 21-0 on day two of the Dennis Storer Classic to top the tournament for the 18th-consecutive year. The Golden Bears also defeated UC San Diego 94-0 and Cal Poly 33-7 on the first day to start the 2024 XV's season with a 3-0 record.
 
"First, we want to thank UCLA for their hosting of the tournament," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "We also appreciate the game that the Bruins delivered today, as well as that of Cal Poly and UCSD. In general it was fun to play again. Rugby is fun, competing is fun and being together is fun. And it was a pretty solid start. It's about building from here."
 
The Bears struck first in the contest on Sunday afternoon to secure an advantage they would never give up. Cal worked its way into UCLA territory and won an attacking lineout to set up a strong maul. A few phases later, Caleb Tomasin caught the ball on the wing and carried it into the tryzone. Kealan O'Connell converted to make it 7-0 in favor of the Bears.
 
Over the next few minutes, Cal's defense held UCLA deep in Bruin territory. With their backs pushed against their own tryzone, UCLA attempted to swing the ball out to their left wing, but Max Threlkeld intercepted the pass and charged it straight in and O'Connell converted to make it 14-0. The final six minutes of the half were scoreless and the Bears took the 14-0 lead into the break.  
 
The two teams battled in the second half and traded possessions back and forth, putting both sides of the ball to work. UCLA was shown a yellow card early in the second half and played a man down for five minutes.
 
Cal scored its third try seven minutes into the second half to extend the squad's advantage. Solomon Williams had a linebreak and put the ball in Emilio Shea's hands. Shea offloaded to an accelerating Tomasin who took it all the way in from the wing and dotted it down between the posts. O'Connell added the extras to go 3-for-3 on conversion attempts.
 
UCLA was on the attack in the final minutes and worked its way down into Bear territory, but Cal never let the Bruins cross the tryline to shut them out and win the contest.
 
Cal gave playing time to the entire travel party, including 22 freshmen and sophomores, over the course of the two-day tournament. The Bears tallied 22 tries by 15 different players across their three contests. Mack Fell led the team in scoring with five between two matches and Nate Comiskey, Joe Kirsten and Tomasin all had multi-score games, logging two apiece.
 
UP NEXT
Cal has two contests on the schedule for the upcoming week, beginning with a midweek clash at Santa Clara on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. PST. The Bears then reopen the gates at Witter Rugby Field for their home-opening matchup with UC Santa Barbara. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. in Strawberry Canyon and fans can purchase tickets in advance here.
 
Scoring Timeline
Cal vs. UCLA
8:00 – Caleb Tomasin 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
14:00 – Max Threlkeld 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
Half: Cal 14, UCLA 0
27:00 – Caleb Tomasin 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
Final: Cal 21, UCLA 0
 
Starting XV:
1. Emilio Shea 2. Cade Crist 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Pat Deely 5. Tom Dixon 6. Hugo Schreuder 7. Jon Puckett 8. Alex Aguero 9. Solomon Williams 10. Will Shankland 11. Evan Weigold 12. Max Threlkeld 13. Kealan O'Connell 14. Caleb Tomasin 15. Rand Santos
 
Substitutions:
Brett Dowgiewicz (37:00), J.P. Vinter (37:00), Matt Vranesh (37:00), Emmett Cook (38:00)
 
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