Cal won the Storer Classic and took a significant step forward in the process.

The annual tournament featuring University of California system programs has been won by Cal every year, but how they win it differs—sometimes it's a roll through all of the opponents, and sometimes it's a little tougher.

This year was a little tougher. Cal beat UC Santa Cruz 48-3 on Saturday and UC San Diego 59-7 on the same day. UCLA, meanwhile, beat UC San Diego 22-17 and Claremont Colleges 43-0.

Both teams were testing some newer players, but Cal especially has a need to fill in for some injuries and graduations.

ON the first day, 15 Cal players made their 15s debuts.  

"We tried to do what the coaches were asking of us: play fast, be physical, and support each other on the field," said freshman debutant Michael Puckett. "It was a learning experience today, but everyone came together in the end."

"A lot of the freshmen stepped up and it was good for everyone to get a chance to play today," said another new player, Nate Salter. "There are things for us to work on, but for tomorrow, our main goal is to improve upon where we ended today and take it a step further."

What the Cal coaches were looking for in part was how players respond when the responsibility is on them. The lineups were young but they featured many players who had won championships in high school. Nick Leusing, Jason Severance, Cal Liebowitz, and Luke Freeman were all national champions at Danville. Garrett Kay, and Max Schumacher won national titles at Jesuit, and Salter (Xavier), Marco Caramanico (Xavier), and Owen Duvall (Cathedral Catholic), to name a few, were not far behind.

So on Sunday Cal ran out a completely different lineup to face UCLA, and had to battle to a 19-8 win.

Shane Barry's 2nd-minute penalty goal gave UCLA a 3-0 lead, and that held up until halftime. But a try from Marcus Shankland nudged Cal ahead only to see Connor Weigold's try regain the lead for the Bruins at 8-5.

"Trailing at halftime, we knew that we needed to stick with our system, start striking, and move forward," said senior captain Thomas Spradling.

But Cal put on the pressure and got a penalty try for their pains. Now it was 12-8 Cal, and Shankland capped it off with a try that Ken Kurihara converted.

"I thought we were only OK throughout the weekend," said Cal Head Coach Jack Clark. "Maybe understandable Saturday with so many underclassmen in the lineups, less palatable Sunday with a mostly experienced team on the field. Give credit to UCLA for making it so difficult on us. It's early for sure, but we are behind where we should be. We need urgency until we catch up."

But testing these players with the season now underway was key for Cal. With some lineup questions to answer, Clark will likely be happy his players were stressed early. How they respond will be key.

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