Feb. 6, 2009

SACRAMENTO - California came away with a 51-5 victory over the University of Calgary Friday evening at the Kickoff Tournament in Sacramento, outscoring the Dinos, nine tries to one.

Junior flanker Tom Rooke found the try zone early in the match following a blocked kick for a 5-0 Cal lead at Granite Regional Park, only to have Calgary come right back to tie the score minutes later. The Bears reeled off three more first-half tries to put some distance between themselves and the Canadians and did not look back.

Second-half rain could not dampen the spirits of the large crowd as Cal pulled further away, with Rooke, Cody Stevens and Dustin Muhn each scoring a pair of tries. Keegan Engelbrecht managed only 3-of-9 conversions.

Next up for the Bears is their Sunday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m. match at Stanford for the Scrum Axe.

Cal then travels to the San Diego Invitational Friday, Feb. 13, to face Wyoming (11:30 a.m.), Virginia Military Institute (1 p.m.) and Navy (2:30 p.m.) at the Del Mar Polo Grounds. In VMI, the triple-header offers an opportunity for the youngest members of the Bears, with Wyoming and Navy both frequent national postseason participants.

The Bears finally return home for a midweek tilt against Sacramento State on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 6:30 p.m. before they welcome the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Saturday, Feb. 21, to mark the opening round of the 2009 "World Cup" as their Homecoming celebration - a 1 p.m. match that will be rebroadcast as the National Guard Game of the Week on ESPNU, with commemorative advance tickets available by calling (800) GO BEARS or visiting the Athletics Ticket Office at 2223 Fulton Street, 1st Floor.

For the UBC game on Feb. 21, the ticket office is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. As always, tickets are $8 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and military, and free for all Cal students and all youth 12th grade and below. Additional fees apply for phone/mail orders. Gates will open at 11 a.m. on Feb. 21 and early arrival is encouraged for youth groups to ensure admission. High school and youth teams are encouraged to wear their colors to add to the pageantry of the afternoon.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Calgary:

01:00 Tom Rooke 5

03:00 Calgary 5

11:00 James Bailes 5

17:00 Cody Stevens 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

22:00 Tom Rooke 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

Halftime: California 24, Calgary 5

46:00 Dustin Muhn 5

52:00 Colin Hawley 5, Keegan Engelbrecht 2

56:00 Chris Biller 5

60:00 Cody Stevens 5

76:00 Dustin Muhn 5

Final Score: California 51, Calgary 5

The Team vs. Calgary:

15. Bailes, 14. Muhn, 13. Hawley, 12. Stevens, 11. R. Taylor (Scully @ 36:00), 10. Engelbrecht (Gallinger @ 56:00), 9. Mase, 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Biller © (N. Barrett @ 65:00), 3.Besser (J. Barrett @ 65:00), 4. Snellgrove (Jesseman @ 36:00, 5.Fry, 6. Kidd, 7. Rooke, 8. Asbun