March 25, 2010

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VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Golden Bears were back on the pitch against Central Washington Thursday at the University of British Columbia, where California inserted 14 new starters into the lineup and ended with nine first-year players on the field in a 50-0 win over the Wildcats.

James Bailes, who made his second appearance of the season at flyhalf, nailed a 35-meter penalty kick to get Cal onto the board. Sophomore Anthony Lombardo scored a try 15 minutes later followed by another from freshman winger Josh Tucker, with Lombardo and Tucker among the five freshmen and three sophomores who started the match for Cal.

Central Washington yielded a penalty try and missed a short penalty kick to go down 24-0 at the half.

The second half remained all Cal, with the Bears only calling upon five reserves. Freshman Brendan Daly scored a try for the forwards to complement tries from scrumhalf Connor Ring, sophomore inside center Mark Richter and replacement fullback Andre Coquillard, a freshman. Fellow freshman Brandon Kraft took over kicking duties when he replaced Bailes at flyhalf in the second stanza.

The Bears finished their regular season without a loss (22-0) and yielding less than a try per game to the opposition (4.1 ppg).

Cal will go into the Round of 16 as the No. 2 national playoff seed April 17 in Marietta, Ga. The Bears will face UCLA or Cal Poly in the opening round, with the Bruins and Mustangs playing April 3 in Los Angeles to decide Cal's opponent (see printable playoff bracket [pdf]).

07:00 James Bailes 3

21:00 Anthony Lombardo 5, James Bailes 2

25:00 Josh Tucker 5, James Bailes 2

33:00 Penalty Try to Cal 5, James Bailes 2

Halftime: California 24, Central Washington 0

53:00 Mark Richter 5, James Bailes 2

64:00 Brendan Daly 5

69:00 Connor Ring 5, Brandon Kraft 2

79:00 Andre Coquillard 5, Brandon Kraft 2

Final Score: California 50, Central Washington 0

The Team vs. Central Washington:

15. Lombardo (Coquillard @ 70:00), 14. Tucker, 13. Kelly (Lombardo @ 70:00), 12. Richter (Nafisi @ 70:00), 11.Maloney, 10. Bailes (Kraft @ 57:00), 9. Ring, 1. Cunnie (Mohr @ 57:00), 2. Wrobel, 3. Strack (Huntley @ 61:00, 4. Prickett, 5. Daly, 6. Colin, 7. Rooke ©, 8. Klaas