Cal Goes Undefeated Day One Of Dennis Storer Classic
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Cal defeats UCSB and UCSD on day one of the Dennis Storer Classic.
The Bears outscore their opponents 120-0
BERKELEY – California rugby went undefeated on a rainy first day of the 2023 Dennis Storer Classic, picking up wins over UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego. The Bears return to the field tomorrow for a contest with host UCLA at 1:10 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets at the gates of Wallis Annenberg Stadium or watch the live stream.
In the team’s first game of the day, Cal shutout UCSB 35-0, with most of the points coming in the first half. The Bears controlled the ball for most of the half as they tallied four tries. Number 8 Luke Freeman contributed two back-to-back tries in the second and fifth minutes to put the points on the board first. Prop Nick Leusing pushed his way over the try line in the 12th minute, followed by another score from Dougie Brown in the 14th minute to close out the first half. Kealan O’Connell went 4-for-4 on conversion kicks to make it 28-0 at the break.
The contest was goalless in the second half for almost the entire period until Dom Paga struck in the penalty area in the 39th minute to get the team’s fifth score of the match. Cormac Saint successfully converted the score to grab two more points, taking the final score to 35-0.
The Bears had a strong performance in their second game of the day against UCSD, tallying 13 tries from 11 different players and scoring their second clean sheet of the day by a final score of 85-0. Prop Josh Mao started the scoring for Cal when he touched down just 27 seconds into the game. Solomon Williams, Alex Aguero and Matt Vranesh each contributed further tries, and Alex Brundage went 3-for-4 on conversions to make it 26-0 at the half.
The Golden Bears scored nine goals in the second half, headlined by Evan Weigold’s hat trick, which included back-to-back goals in the 34th and 37th minutes. Ryan Marshall opened the half with a try two minutes later and Lance Hackett put up five points. others on the board after coming on from the bench just two minutes earlier. Rookie Max Threlkeld, who just joined the roster this January, also added an effort to the scoreboard in addition to goals from Tyler Lenk and Paga. Jack Casey scored a try and went 4-for-5 in conversions while Jack Openshaw went 3-for-4.
Follow along on Cal Varsity Rugby social media channels for the starting lineup and score updates tomorrow on day two of the Dennis Storer Classic.
Marking timelines
Cal vs. UCSB
2:00 – L. Freeman 5, O’Connell 2
5:00 – L. Freeman 5, O’Connell 2
12pm – Leusing 5, O’Connell 2
2pm – Brown 5, O’Connell 2
First half: 28-0
39:00 – Wages 5, Saint 2
Final: 35-0
Starting from XV:
1. Nick Leusing 2. Cade Crist 3. Michael Puckett 4. Mats Dodd 5. Pat Deely 6. Brett Dowgiewicz 7. Cal Liebowitz 8. Luke Freeman 9. Caleb Tomasin 10. Kealan O’Connell 11. Miles2. Feaubelle1 13. Max Threlkeld 14. Dougie Brown 15. Oliver Newall
Cal vs. UCSD
0:27 – Mao 5
2:00 – Williams 5, Brundage 2
4:00 – Aguero 5, Brundage 2
13:00 – Vranesh 5, Brundage 2
First half: 26-0
22:00 – Marshall 5
24:00 – Hackett 5, Casey 2
26:00 – Casey 5, Casey 2
27:00 – Threlkeld 5, Casey 2
30:00 – Weigold 5, Casey 2
32:00 – Lenk 5, Openshaw 2
34:00 – Weigold 5
37:00 – Weigold 5, Openshaw 2
40:00 – Wages 5, Openshaw 2
Final: 85-0
Starting from XV:
1. Clayton Seastrand 2. Matt Vranesh 3. Josh Mao 4. Tom Dixon 5. Ryan Marshall 6. Brett Dowgiewicz 7. Jon Puckett 8. Alex Aguero 9. Solomon Williams 10. Jack Casey 11. Alex Brundage 12. Dougie. Rand Santos 14. Evan Weigold 15. Joe Kirsten
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