Bears Claim PAC Rugby 7s Championship

BERKELEY – For the eighth time in nine tournaments, the Golden Bears are the PAC Rugby 7s Champions. Cal won the tournament in front of the home crowd at Witter Rugby Field after defeating Arizona 27-5 in the semifinal and then UCLA 10-0 in the final.
 
"UCLA is potent, so keeping them in check is something to build upon," Head Coach Jack Clark said. "I thought we were mostly solid throughout the weekend and the boys should feel good about their performance. We'll put 7s behind us for awhile now and turn our focus to fifteens."
 
The Bears' path to the conference title went through five teams over the past two days as Cal took down Oregon (27-7), USC (34-5), Utah (36-5), Arizona (27-5) and UCLA (10-0). Throughout, 12 Bears combined to score 24 tries. Junior Max Schumacher led the team with six tries including four in the opener versus Oregon and a try in the final versus the Bruins.
 
Here is a list of Cal's try scorers throughout the tournament:
-Nick Bloom (1)
-Alex Brundage, (1)
-Jack Casey (1)
-Max Clark (2)
-Luke Freeman (2)
-Sam Golla (1)
-Kealan O'Connell (1)
-Seth Purdey (1)
-Kevin Saunders (3), two versus Arizona in the semifinal
-Max Schumacher (6) four versus Oregon in the opener
-Marcus Shankland (1)
-Sam Walsh (4) - scored twice versus Utah, twice versus Arizona in the semifinal
 
Cal's stout defense did not allow any of their opponents to score more than one try. Overall, the Bears outscored their opponents 134-22.
 
"Coming into today, we knew we needed to focus on defense and communications on our brackets," senior Sam Golla said. "We couldn't overlook anyone in this tournament and I think we did a good job of building upon our performance throughout. Moving into next semester, we can't become complacent. We need to get back to work and prepare for 15s in the spring."
 
This is Cal's third-consecutive conference PAC Rugby 7s title as they also won in 2018 and 2019; no tournament was held in 2020 due to COVID-19.
 
For the remainder of the fall semester, Bears will turn their focus to their spring XVs season which will begin in January. Cal ends their fall sevens season with a 13-0 record.
 
To follow Cal rugby this season, be sure to visit calbears.com/sports/mens-rugby or follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 
 
Scoring Timelines:
 
Cup Semifinal
Cal 27, Arizona 5
 
2:00 Arizona 5
4:00 Kevin Saunders 5
5:00 Sam Walsh 5
7:00 Kevin Saunders 5
Halftime Score: Cal 15, Oregon 5
11:00 Sam Wash 5, Henry Poon 2
13:00 Max Schumacher 5
 
Starters vs Arizona
Marcus Shankland, Seth Purdey, Kevin Saunders, Cal Liebowitz, Sam Golla, Henry Poon, Sam Walsh
Substitutions:
9:00 – Nate Salter
10:00 – Max Schumacher
11:00 Kealan O'Connell, Alex Brundage
 
Cup Final
Cal 10, UCLA 0
 
3:00 Max Schumacher 5
7:00 Sam Golla 5
Halftime Score: Cal 10, UCLA 0
 
Starters vs UCLA
Jake Broekhuizen, Kevin Saunders, Max Schumacher, Sam Golla, Henry Poon, Sam Walsh, Seth Purdey
Substitutions:
1:00 – Nate Salter
4:00 – Marcus Shankland
13:00 – Nathan Zylstra, Kealan O'Connell, Nick Bloom