BERKELEY – California rugby defeated UC Santa Barbara in its first home game of the season on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Bears and the Gauchos kicked off amidst a fierce downpour in Berkeley, but the rainy conditions did not stop the Bears from securing a 119-0 win and improving to a 5-0 overall record.
 
"We appreciate UCSB for sticking with the match," Cal head coach Jack Clark. "I believe it is the nature of the competition, in that the Gauchos had a blowout scoreline victory versus Stanford last week and have the tables turned on them a week later. Santa Barbara is rebuilding their program and we're all pulling for them."
 
Senior Will Shankland captained the contest and set the tone for the match when he touched down in the tryzone for the Bears' first points two minutes in. Six minutes passed before his team co-captain Alex Aguero carried in a ball from the back of a maul. Kealan O'Connell, Rand Santos and Solomon Williams each scored two minutes apart from each other before Aguero ran in his second score of the day just before the halfway point of the first period.
 
Cade Crist muscled in a ball for a try a few minutes later followed by Evan Weigold running a ball in from the wing at minute 26. Cal's scoring then slowed down, taking 11 minutes for the next Bear to cross the tryline. Caleb Tomasin was the man to touch it down and Joe Kirsten found a gap as the half was expiring to score another try before the break. Kealan O'Connell added the extras on five tries to give the Bears a 60-0 advantage at the intermission.
 
Cal continued to dominate the scoreline in the second half, with its forward pack contributing points early on in the second period. Matt Vranesh pushed in a score followed by Miles Malone and Ryan Marshall each logging tries from the second row.
 
Dougie Brown ran in a ball at minute 54 before Tyler Lenk spotted a gap and accelerated for a breakaway run that earned him a try at minute 61. Oliver Newall dotted down a try and then recorded an assist on the next possession when he kicked the ball out to a wide-open Brown on the left sideline who touched it down for his second try of the day.
 
Dom Paga had the last word, scoring back-to-back tries in minutes 70 and 77 to close out the Bears' try scoring. O'Connell went 3-for-4 on conversion kicks in the second half before Brown took over kicking duties and added the extras on four scores to make it 119-0 in favor of the Bears at the final whistle. It was the fourth game this season in which Cal has recorded a clean sheet victory.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will now have a bye week before heading back out on the road for their next match. Cal will travel to Los Angeles for a matchup with UCLA on Feb. 3.
 
Scoring Timeline:
Cal vs. UCSB
2:00 – Will Shankland 5
8:00 – Alex Aguero 5
10:00 – Kealan O'Connell 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
12:00 – Rand Santos 5
14:00 – Solomon Williams 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
19:00 – Alex Aguero 5, Kealan O'Connell 2  
21:00 – Cade Crist 5
26:00 – Evan Weigold 5
37:00 – Caleb Tomasin 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
40:00 – Joe Kirsten 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
Half: Cal 60, UCSB 0
43:00 – Matt Vranesh 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
46:00 – Miles Malone 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
51:00 – Ryan Marshall 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
54:00 – Dougie Brown 5
61:00 – Tyler Lenk 5, Dougie Brown 2
63:00 – Oliver Newall 5, Dougie Brown 2
67:00 – Dougie Brown 5
70:00 – Dom Paga 5, Dougie Brown 2
77:00 – Dom Paga 5, Dougie Brown 2
Final: Cal 119, UCSB 0
 
Starting XV:
1. Emilio Shea 2. Cade Crist 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Pat Deely 5. Ryan Marshall 6. Hugo Schreuder 7. Jon Puckett 8. Alex Aguero 9. Solomon Williams 10. Will Shankland 11. Evan Weigold 12. Mack Fell 13. Kealan O'Connell 14. Caleb Tomasin 15. Rand Santos
 
Substitutions:
Joe Kirsten (26:00), Matt Vranesh (26:00), Miles Malone (26:00), Dougie Brown (26:00), Tyler Lenk (26:00), Oliver Newall (26:00), Dom Paga (26:00)

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