Bears Prepare for Battle in Bay

Battle in the Bay 7s Tournament Hosted by Saint Mary's College

Venue: San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club, 725 California Street, Treasure Island

Tickets: Adults $10/day, Youth 14-Under $7/day (CASH ONLY at venue). See link for advance sales via credit card.

Cal Schedule: Sat. Oct. 25: 10:40 a.m. vs. UC Santa Barbara, 12:20 p.m. vs. ASU, 3 p.m. vs. Utah
Sun. Oct. 26: TBD. Final at 3:20 p.m.

Pool A: Saint Mary’s, Cal Poly, Nevada, Oregon
Pool B: California, Utah, UC Santa Barbara, ASU
Pool C: Central Washington, San Diego State, UC Davis, San Jose State
Pool D: UCLA, Santa Clara, USD, Western Washington

BERKELEY – The Golden Bears will send a 20-player squad to compete Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25-26, at the Battle in the Bay 7s tournament hosted by Saint Mary’s at the San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club on Treasure Island.

California (3-1), the top seed in Pool B and currently ranked No. 3 nationally, commences pool play Saturday at 10:40 a.m. vs. UC Santa Barbara, followed by Arizona State at 12:20 p.m. and Utah at 3 p.m. Sunday’s schedule will be determined by pool results, with the tournament final at 3:20 p.m. on day two.

“Our pool is the most difficult by a ways,” said head coach Jack Clark of the Bears’ Saturday, Saint Mary's-designed draw. "Sometimes it helps playing good teams in the early rounds for the teams that can make it through. But there will most likely be a worthy team from our pool to not make it to the tournament cup round, which isn't ideal. This said, the tournament is more of a friendly, so there isn't much angst. ”

It will be Cal’s first meeting in 7s against UCSB. The Bears are 3-1 all-time in 7s vs. ASU, most recently defeating the Sun Devils, 32-12, in pool play at the 2013 PAC 7s Championship. The Utes are up 2-1 in the all-time 7s series against the Bears, having beaten Cal in the 2010 final and 2011 quarterfinals of the Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s before the Blue and Gold beat Utah, 21-12, to win the 2012 PAC 7s crown.

Captain Jake Anderson leads the Rugby Bears into the Battle in the Bay with his 31 tries scored in 7s play, tops among active players and No. 2 all-time in the program. His 50 appearances in 7s are also No. 2 all-time at Cal, behind only Andrew Battaglia (54). Battaglia, a senior, is also No. 3 all-time in Cal 7s with 25 tries.

Anderson and Battaglia will be joined by veterans including, in order of Cal 7s experience, Russell Webb (No. 5 at 38 appearances and the Bears’ all-time 7s conversions kicker with 85 makes), Nicklas Boyer (33 appearances, No. 6), Paul Bosco (32, No. 7), Eakalafi Okusi (28, T8th), Anthony Salaber (25), Patrick Barrientes (21), Jesse Milne (18), Alec Gletzer (14), Cameron Todd (13), Lucas Dunne (12), Connor Sweet (7), Matthew Chipman (6), Miles Honens (5), Hugo D’Auriol (3), Christian Hess (3), James Kondrat (3) and Karl Thornton (1).

Set to make his collegiate debut is freshman Zachary Tavenner, one of the Bears’ 16 first-year players, who will join D’Auriol as one of two freshmen on the squad.

Last year at this event, Cal went 5-1 over two days to claim third place with the tournament's best points differential (+126), most tries (28) and most points scored (174). This year the pathway to a strong seed in Sunday’s knockout rounds will be difficult with fellow Pac-12 universities ASU and Utah in the Bears’ pool.

Coming out of its season-opening tournament at the West Coast 7s largely unscathed after falling short by just two points in the final to UCLA, Cal will need to play clean and fast to find success this weekend on Treasure Island. Among the other marquee teams at the Battle in the Bay are the Bruins, top seed in Pool D, as well as top seeds Central Washington and the Gaels in their respective pools.

“We are looking at the tournament as a good warmup for our conference championship tournament,” said coach Clark. “In a perfect world, we will spread the minutes around and get a little more time under our belts without beating the team up. You always want to win more than lose, but we need to concern ourselves with the quality of our play and building true depth in the side if we want to defend our conference championship on November 8-9. ”

The Battle in the Bay will be the Bears’ second test of the fall 7s season and their last proving ground before they host the PAC Rugby 7s Championship Nov. 8-9 on Witter Rugby Field, where Cal fans will enjoy the first-ever opportunity to attend an autumn home event in form of the sport that will be contested for medals at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.