Battle in the Bay Day One
Battle in the Bay Day One
UCLA and Central Washington dominated their games in Day One of the Battle in the Bay college 7s tournament Saturday, setting up an exciting day of knockout play on Sunday.
UCLA played very well as a team, with Grant Penney, Ben Francis, Zach Bonte, Cian Barry, and more putting in big plays. The Bruins defense was solid as they beat San Diego, Western Washington, and Santa Clara handily to go 3-0. San Diego did well to upend a good WWU team to take 2nd in Pool D.
In Pool C, Central Washington was powerful, and clinical. Probably the best team at the tournament in the rucks, they poached ball relentlessly and with Aladdin Schirmer scoring tries all ways - power, speed, shiftiness - and with Tyler Coffman and Trent Barnes difficult in their own unique ways, the Wildcats were untouchable. They gave up one try on the day. San Diego State looked very strong in their opening two games, and were then eviscerated by CWU 28-0.
In Pool B Cal emerged the winners in a tough pool. The Bears edged Arizona Sate 19-14 and beat UCSB 22-7. They held off a game but imperfect Utah squad to go 3-0, with some excellent team support work. The game against Arizona State came down to the wire, as Adam Sanstrom torched them for two tries and had the Sun Devils up late. But a long run from Russell Webb put him in at the corner, and after referee and touch judge discussed it, the try was confirms for Cal. Utah did not look like they had a handle on things, and were beaten by a strong ASU team 26-0 in the opening round.
The final game of the day was one of the most intriguing. A young St. Mary’s team had gone 2-0 so far, but it was worth noting that they had given up 29 points against Nevada and Oregon, while Cal Poly, also 2-0, had given up 12. Led by the fleet-footed Michael Mitchell, Cal Poly scored early against St. Mary’s, and the youth of the Gaels team started to show, as they forced the issue, made mistakes, and saw good attacking opportunities go begging as a result. Mitchell was outstanding for the Mustangs, and Cal Poly held on 15-5.
So the standings look as follows. quarterfinal matchups to come:
| Pool A | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Cal Poly | 3 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 17 | 69 | 9 |
| St. Mary's | 2 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 44 | 35 | 7 |
| Nevada | 1 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 86 | -57 | 5 |
| Oregon | 0 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 85 | -47 | 3 |
| Pool B | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Cal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 26 | 32 | 9 |
| Arizona State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 24 | 38 | 7 |
| Utah | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 65 | -32 | 5 |
| UCSB | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 72 | -38 | 3 |
| Pool C | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| CWU | 3 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 5 | 73 | 9 |
| SD State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 38 | 15 | 7 |
| UC Davis | 1 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 67 | -53 | 5 |
| San Jose State | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 74 | -59 | 3 |
| Pool D | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| UCLA | 3 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 12 | 90 | 9 |
| San Diego | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 55 | -5 | 7 |
| WWU | 1 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 74 | -35 | 5 |
| Santa Clara | 3 | 0 | 15 | 65 | -50 | 3 |
All the scores:
| St. Mary's College | 29-19 | University of Oregon |
| Cal Poly | 34-0 | Nevada-Reno |
| California | 22-7 | UC Santa Barbara |
| University of Utah | 0-26 | Arizona State |
| San Diego State | 39-0 | San Jose State |
| UC Davis | 0-29 | Central Washington |
| Santa Clara | 5-22 | Western Washington |
| UCLA | 33-7 | University of San Diego |
| San Jose State | 5-21 | Central Washington |
| UC Davis | 10-14 | San Diego State |
| Western Washington | 38-5 | UCLA |
| University of San Diego | 12-10 | Santa Clara |
| University of Oregon | 12-37 | Cal Poly |
| St. Mary's College | 45-10 | Nevada-Reno |
| University of Utah | 28-22 | UC Santa Barbara |
| Arizona State | 14-19 | California |
| University of Oregon | 7-19 | Nevada-Reno |
| Arizona State | 22-5 | UC Santa Barbara |
| UC Davis | 14-10 | San Jose State |
| University of San Diego | 31-12 | Western Washington |
| UCLA | 31-0 | Santa Clara |
| Central Washington | 28-0 | San Diego State |
| California | 17-5 | University of Utah |
| St. Mary's College | 5-15 | Cal Poly |
