CHULA VISTA – California rugby lifted the West Coast Collegiate 7s trophy for the second time this season as the Golden Bears defeated Grand Canyon in the Cup Semifinals and the University of San Diego in the Cup Finals to take home the title on Sunday afternoon at the former Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.
 
"We appreciate the tournament hosts for their efforts and further appreciate the competing teams," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "It was really good to have these two sevens tournaments, now we will direct our focus to 15s rugby."
 
Cal topped Pool A on Saturday to advance to the Cup Semifinal against Grand Canyon. The Bears were on the defense for the first two and a half minutes of the contest, the most pressure in their own territory they had seen thus far in the tournament. Cal held off the Antelopes and forced a turnover, leading to a try by junior Rand Santos which was converted by senior David Hause to give the Bears a 7-0 advantage at the half.
 
Cal was quick to score on the restart, with Santos finding the tryzone and converting his own score to make it 14-0 with six minutes left to play. GCU answered with two scores, one converted try quickly off the restart at minute eight and another unconverted score in the 11th minute to close the gap to 14-12 in favor of the Bears.
 
Freshman Oliver Teague went up and got the ball in the air on the restart and found a gap in the 'Lopes' defense, bursting through the line and dotting down a score in the 12th minute to make it a Bears 19-12 victory in the end.
 
On the other side of group play, USD – which placed second Pool B – provided the biggest upset of the tournament, beating Pool B winners UCLA in overtime in the Cup Semifinals to advance through to the final match to face Cal. The Toreros had a strong outing against the Bears in the final pool match on Saturday and carried that momentum into their semifinal round to notch the win.
 
Cal struck first in the Cup Final with junior Solomon Williams dotting down a score at the three-minute mark. The Bears used a set piece scrum to get on the attack, running a hard line and offloading it into Williams' hands to carry it through to the tryzone.
 
Santos was shown a yellow card at the fifth minute, forcing the Bears to play a man-down for the final two minutes of the half. USD capitalized on the advantage and scored a converted try to take a 7-5 lead over the Bears into halftime.
 
After the break, Cal put up back-to-back converted tries in the eighth and ninth minutes to take the lead. Santos scored his first try of the match before junior Michál de Beer contributed another. The Toreros responded with a converted try of their own at the 12th minute, but Santos carried another ball past the tryline and converted the score as the clock expired to make it 26-14 in favor of the Bears at the final whistle.
 
Cal closes out the fall sevens circuit with a 10-0 overall record. The Bears will now turn their focus to 15-a-side play, preparing for a preseason friendly at Long Beach State on Nov. 23.
 
Scoring Timelines:
Cup Semifinal – Cal vs. Grand Canyon
5:00 – Rand Santos 5, David Hause 2
7:00 – Rand Santos 5, Rand Santos 2
8:00 – GCU 5, GCU 2
11:00 – GCU 5
12:00 – Oliver Teague 5
Final: Cal 19, GCU 12
 
Cup Final – Cal vs. University of San Diego
3:00 – Solomon Williams 5
6:00 – USD 5, USD 2
8:00 – Rand Santos 5, Rand Santos 2
9:00 – Michál de Beer 5, Rand Santos 2
12:00 – USD 5, USD 2
14:00 – Rand Santos 5, Rand Santos 2
Final: Cal 26, USD 14
 
STAY POSTED 
For complete coverage of Cal rugby, please follow the Bears on X/Twitter (@CalVarsityRugby), Instagram (@CalVarsityRugby) and Facebook (/CalVarsityRugby).