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Cal Spotless in Storer Classic

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Cal Spotless in Storer Classic

Cal defeated UCLA 38-0 to win the Golden Bears' 11th-straight Dennis Storer Classic Sunday.

Center Jesse Milne had a hat trick, fullback Harry Adolphus scored a try and kicked two conversions and three penalties for a total of 18, and flyhalf Russell Webb kicked a penalty as California exited the two-day event with a grand total of 29 tries and none allowed, while 48 players notched time on the pitch.

“Very pleased with the team’s performance today against a good opponent,” said Cal Head Coach Jack Clark. “It was our best performance of the tournament and something to build upon.”

Cal showed good tempo and discipline on the pitch against the Bruins, dictating much of the run of play and staying clean at the breakdown, while UCLA found itself scrambling and subsequently penalized on several occasions.

“We were happy to come together and put in a good performance to wind up the weekend,” said prop George Vrame, whose front-row play alongside hooker Michael Bush and prop Kevin Sullivan was cohesive. “Today, we had a pretty good pattern out there. Obviously we have a lot to improve on but we put ourselves in pretty good position to go forward this season.”

UCLA had one of its best scoring chances, a 30-meter penalty kick by flyhalf Cian Barry, go wide left in the 14th minute. Despite ceding the final match of the event to the Blue and Gold, the Bruins could take solace in having hosted another successful Classic with a high standard among the participants.

“We were impressed with the quality and organization of the UC teams,” coach Clark said. “I thought all the teams improved from a season ago and was impressed with the improvement of UC Davis, in particular.”

Even with 202 points scored and none allowed, and an impressive pace set by the forwards and backs, there were setbacks for the weekend in the form of injuries to frontline players including Patrick Barrientes on Saturday and Lucas Dunne Sunday.

“We’re always looking to build,” said Webb. “Guys that played today and yesterday put forward a good effort. There were a couple of injuries which were unfortunate but this is a good bunch of boys and I believe we have some depth. This Cal side, we haven’t proved anything yet, but we want to.”