Bears Edged by UCLA in West Coast 7s

Oct 11, 2014

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif - California advanced to the final Saturday at the West Coast 7s, outscoring its opposition 119-12 en route, but despite matching UCLA's two tries, the Golden Bears fell to the Bruins, 14-12, to end the season-opening tournament 3-1 at the Cal Poly Sports Complex.

"Looking at the day overall, we did a lot of the things we wanted to get done," said captain Jake Anderson. "It was a decent opening to the season."

With all 15 traveling players receiving ample playing time, the day offered positive platforms from which the Bears (3-1) can continue to build, including the strong debuts of freshman Hugo D'Auriol (2 tries and 4 conversions) and junior James Kondrat, who scored a team-high four tries.

But Kondrat also typified the frustrating final that got away from Cal, as he knocked on a second-half kickoff that got lost in the late-day sun. It was one of several turnovers that hampered Cal's attack and drained time off the clock to prevent the Bears from mounting a last-ditch effort after Paul Bosco's second try and Russell Webb's conversion brought the Blue and Gold to within two points before the final whistle.

Webb's missed conversion following Bosco's first try proved to be the difference.

The Bears carved their way through the more difficult path to the final, facing a scrappy host team in the Mustangs after dispatching San Jose State and Arizona in pool play.

D'Auriol and Kondrat both scored twice as the Bears notched eight tries on the Spartans, and six different players found the try zone vs. the Wildcats.

Despite their tournament-leading points and tries scored, the Bears went up against a tougher semifinal opponent than did the Bruins, with UCLA blanking Santa Clara in their semifinal.

The Bruins' Niall Barry scored the first try of the final in the right corner, UCLA's Ben Francis made the conversion and despite knocking on the door, Cal could not score going into halftime down, 7-0.

After Bosco's unconverted try brought the Bears to within two at 7-5, UCLA's Pierre Croupon was able to dot down within Francis' range, and his conversion made it 14-5 before Bosco's second try closed the gap and time ran out.

Displeased without a doubt, Cal was nevertheless fortunate to exit the event without significant injuries. Having dropped the final to the Bruins should only add more zest to the PAC 7s Championship hosted by the Bears Nov. 8-9 on Witter Rugby Field, where Cal and UCLA will be joined by nine other Pac-12 member universities.

"The first three matches, we showed a lot of patience and discipline but maybe our emotions got to us a little in the final," said the 6-6 Kondrat. "We worked really hard but in the end it seemed like our mentality wasn't quite there. We're going to learn from it and work harder."

The Bears now return to Berkeley, where they will prepare next for the Battle in the Bay tournament held Oct. 26-27 on Treasure Island.

The Scoring Timeline vs. San Jose State

02:00 James Kondrat 5

03:00 Anthony Salaber 5, Hugo D'Auriol 2

05:00 James Kondrat 5, Hugo D'Auriol 2

06:00 Miles Honens 5

Halftime Score: California 24, San Jose State 0

09:00 Hugo D'Auriol 5

10:00 Eakalafi Okusi 5, Hugo D'Auriol 2

12:00 Hugo D'Auriol 5, 2

14:00 Connor Sweet 5

Final Score: California 48, San Jose State 0