Jan. 15, 2012
LOS ANGELES -
California defeated UCLA, 58-0, in Sunday's final of the UCLA Tournament. Danny Barrett and Seamus Kelly scored two tries, Alex Aronson went 6-for-8 on conversions and added two penalty kicks, and six other Golden Bears found the try zone as Cal improved to 4-0.
It was the seventh straight UCLA Tournament win for Cal, with the last six finals against the Bruins. All 50 Bears who made the trip saw action on the pitch during the weekend.
"There's nothing not to like about this tournament," said head coach Jack Clark. "The timing is perfect from a preseason standpoint and the tournament format provides a lot of minutes to be spread around the team."
Prior to the tournament final, the Bears brought a frosh/soph team to Loyola Marymount, where 10 players scored 14 tries, including a hat trick by outside center James Poindexter and pairs from flanker Carl Hendrickson and wing Hunter Frisinger en route to a 95-3 victory. Scrumhalf Nicklas Boyer connected on 5-of-7 conversion and Poindexter went 6-for-7, while Lions scrumhalf Gianluca Keeler averted a shutout with his first-half penalty kick.
Later on Sunday at UCLA, a more experienced team took the pitch and played solid rugby in front of a large crowd filled with many Cal supporters and others who enjoyed an event that has grown to include a youth-club bracket in addition to the collegiate competition.
"UCLA is really a capable host and a rugby program that continues to improve under their coach, Scott Stewart," said coach Clark. "I think they were a bit banged up with injuries today, which made it tough on them."
As a team, the Rugby Bears were grateful to kick off their season with so many minutes to distribute over four matches following two weeks of training camp.
"There were times when we lost our shape and could have used a little more communication, but overall we played hard and that's always good to see," said senior scrumhalf Connor Ring of Sunday's final. "Alex kicked well today and the forward pack had pretty good speed to the ball."
Aronson said, "We have a really young team this year and getting out there to play after breaking camp was good. There's a lot of lessons to take on, sticking to the systems and keeping our shape."
The Bears next travel to Vallejo to play Cal Maritime on Friday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. on Mare Island, followed on Saturday, Jan. 21, by a 1 p.m. contest at Santa Clara University.
The Scoring Timeline vs. UCLA:
04:00 Alex Aronson 3
07:00 Danny Barrett 5, Alex Aronson 2
11:00 Jared Braun 5, Alex Aronson 2
20:00 Danny Barrett 5, Alex Aronson 2
22:00 Tyler Colin 5
25:00 Alex Aronson 3
Halftime: California 32, UCLA 0
27:00 Seamus Kelly 5
42:00 Jake Wrobel 5, Alex Aronson 2
47:00 Seamus Kelly 5, Alex Aronson 2
50:00 Jake Anderson 5, Alex Aronson 2
Final Score: California 58, UCLA 0
The Team vs. UCLA:
15. Anderson, 14. Tucker, 13. Kelly, 12. Braun (Richter @ 27:00), 11. Lombardo, 10. Aronson, 9. Ring ©, 1. Mohr, 2. Wrobel, 3. Deterding, 4. Bowman, 5. Daly, 6. De Nysschen, 7. Colin (Fach @ 40:00), 8. Barrett
The Scoring Timeline vs. Loyola Marymount:
01:00 Nicklas Boyer 3
03:00 Hunter Frisinger 5
09:00 Chris Fry 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
15:00 James Poindexter 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
18:00 Nick Grass 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
25:00 Spencer Morris 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
36:00 Michael Bush 5, James Poindexter 2
Halftime: California 43, Loyola Marymount 0
41:00 Carl Hendrickson 5, Nicklas Boyer 2
45:00 LMU (Gianluca Keeler) 3
47:00 Hunter Frisinger 5
51:00 James Poindexter 5
54:00 Matthew Chipman 5, James Poindexter 2
56:00 Carl Hendrickson 5, James Poindexter 2
61:00 James Poindexter 5, 2
71:00 Sam Weston Welch 5, James Poindexter 2
78:00 Andrew Battaglia 5, James Poindexter 2
Final Score: California 95, Loyola Marymount 3
The Team vs. Loyola Marymount:
15. Morris, 14. Chipman, 13. Welch, 12. Okusi (Welch @ 46:00), 11. Frisinger, 10. Kraft, 9. Caravelli, 1. Walsh, 2. Moscone ©, 3. C. Fry, 4. Grass, 5. Coleman (Simons @ 70:00), 6. Hendrickson, 7. Bruzzone (Salaber @ 70:00), 8. Bush (Beckerman @ 70:00)
