Cal Rugby scored four tries and held UCLA scoreless to win the final game of the Storer Classic 26-0 Sunday at the UCLA campus. 

The Golden Bears swept the four games at the tournament - three on Saturday and one on Sunday.  

Younger Bears featured in the first half of the final, as freshman prop Damon Wiley finished the forwards' effort for a try after a scrum outside the UCLA try zone at minute eight, the conversion missed by Russell Webb; then first-year scrumhalf Keanu Andrade found the try zone five minutes later on a keeper that Webb converted. Bruins fullback Cian Barry missed a 42-meter penalty attempt to end the half at 12-0.
 
The second stanza saw seniors Kevin Sullivan and Webb score respective tries, both converted by the flyhalf (3-of-4) as the Bears worked their way through an imperfect but important start to their spring season.
 
"The Dennis Storer Classic is a benchmark to begin our season; now, what we want to do it build off it," said Webb. "It was a good chance to see where we are – not the greatest performances by any means, but with video study tomorrow, we get another chance right away to make improvements."
 
Younger players seemed as aware as the veterans of the opportunity to analyze and apply lessons from the weekend to prepare next for Parents Weekend, featuring the home opener Saturday, January 21, on Witter Rugby Field. The Bears' ownership of the next steps needed in this young season jibed with the words of Dorothy Storer, widow of the late coach, who told both teams assembled after the match, "You are a positive force. Remember that and make use of it."
 
Cal 26
Tries: Wiley, Andrade, Sullivan, Webb
Convs: Webb 3

UCLA 0
 

On Saturday, Cal ran the table; using starting lineups with seven or more frosh-sophs in each match, California (3-0, 0-0 PAC) defeated the Tritons, 40-0, the Aggies, 31-7, and UCSC, 36-0.
 
The Bears' point production against their first three opponents of the spring was distributed almost as broadly as Saturday's playing time. Beyond the pairs of tries scored by Hugo d'Auriol and Cormac Heaney in the opening match of the day, 12 different student-athletes scored the tries across three matches. The one score Cal yielded in the team's +15 try differential came in the 16th minute vs. UC Davis, when Syrus Vahabzadeh's try was converted by Josh Farnsworth.
 
While it may not have been a seamless, blink-of-an-eye continuation of the championship rugby the Bears displayed in their last 15-a-side competition in the national championship, Saturday's body of work gave the Blue and Gold the frame of reference that every team needs to proceed to its next challenge. And Sunday's challenge will be significant, as Cal faces host UCLA at 1:30 p.m. to culminate the event named in honor of the former Bruins and U.S. National Team head coach.
 
"We set a pretty high standard in camp and now we also have a starting point in our competition," said No. 8 Thomas Robles, whose work rate on opening day appeared unchanged from the one he displayed last spring and during autumn 7s. "Any effort, any sacrifice I'm asked to make for this team, I'm going to do it."
 
Younger players looking good on Saturday included freshman Sam Cusano, who scored a try in his start against Santa Cruz. "I'm excited to keep learning as we play 15s," he said. "We're in a spot where we get to come out tomorrow and put effort into getting better."
 
After the team finishes its road trip against the Bruins and returns to campus for the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the beginning of the academic semester, seven of the Bears' next nine matches take place on Witter Rugby Field.
 
The home opener of Saturday, Jan. 21, will be celebrated as Parents Weekend vs. Arizona at 1 p.m. followed by a 2:45 p.m. match against UC Santa Cruz. Cal and the Wildcats will both be playing the first fixture in their respective PAC Rugby Conference schedules, which continues for the Bears in Strawberry Canyon the following Saturday, Jan. 28, as Utah visits at 1 p.m., followed by a match against the Pleasanton Jesters at 2:45.