Cal Men's Premier Winner in West Coast Sevens Opening Leg
Cal Men's Premier Winner in West Coast Sevens Opening Leg
Cal won the first leg of the West Coast Sevens Saturday
Cal won their pool matches while only giving up three tries, one to San Diego State and two to Cal State Long Beach; they shut out Western Washington 27-0.
Meanwhile, UCLA beat Cal's 2nd side 38-5, USC 28-5, and University of San Diego 34-5 to run the table in Pool B.
With a large squad of players Cal rotated lineups throughout the day and as a result several players got on the scoresheet. Oliver Newall, Bryan Bogne, Nate Comiskey, and Oliver Teague each scored three tries during the day.
In the final, Cal shut out UCLA 37-0, with scrumhalf Solomon Williams scoring three tries in just that one match. He added another earlier in the day to lead the Bears with four.
"Our top team was solid; a good start," Cal Head Coach Jack Clark said. "Our second group had a learning experience, which is valuable in a different way."
Cal 2 went 1-2 in Pool B, losing to UCLA and San Diego, but beating Southern California.
Long Beach State took 2nd in Pool A thanks to a 24-0 shutout of San Diego State and a 31-17 defeat of WWU. Also 2nd in their pool was USD, which beat Southern Claifornia 33-7 and Cal 2 in a game in which the Toreros scored near the end of the game to turn a 19-17 deficit into a 24-19 win.
This was the first of three West Coast 7s tournaments this fall in California. The second will be October 11 at Stanford University and will be, like this past one at Dignity Health Sports Park, a one-day event. Then it all culminates in Oceanside, Calif. with a two-day tournament October 25-26.
While there was the main event, the men's collegiate bracket, there were other games at the West Coast 7s as well. A third Challenger division among the men features 2nd teams from San Diego and SD State, along with 1st teams from Claremont Colleges and Arizona State. ASU and Claremont both beat USD and SDSU. That set up the final match of the day for this division and Arizona State beat Claremont Colleges 26-14 to take top spot.
Among the women, UCSB and Claremont Colleges both were able to handle the two San Diego State teams entered. Claremont Colleges beat UCSB 31-5 in the first match of the day but the Gauchos put in a stronger defensive effort in the return game in the final, beating the Foxes 17-12.
Photos Alex Ho
In the Boys HS bracket, Cathedral Catholic ran the table with their closest match being 19-10 over 2nd-place OMBAC.
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