Cal won the Cal Invitational Sunday at Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley, CA, following up on Saturday's defeat of UCLA with a difficult 50-41 victory over Army.

This is the return of what had been a long tradition at Cal — bringing three teams in for a weekend of high-level college rugby. Saturday's games saw Army defeat Claremont Colleges 44-10, while Cal downed UCLA 58-3 in a game that was also a PAC Conference meeting.

Cal Over UCLA

Cal started seven freshmen against the Bruins. Center Matt Ternan and wing William Fuller scored two tries each, while flyhalf Matthew Coyle scored 13 points with the boot.

"The atmosphere was electric," Bears prop Jack Iscaro said. "Once we settled in and played within ourselves, we were able to get the game under control."

Army Over Claremont Colleges

Probably the best NSCRO team in the country, Claremont Colleges has played some excellent rugby this season and pushed both opponents this weekend.

The game was tied 10-10 33 minutes in, but then Army began to pull away. No. 8 Andrew Finken scored two tries, while Brendan Cunningham, Jacob Ericksen, Tony Smith, Nathan Brooks, and Raaqim Rispress all touched down once for the Black Knights.

Sunday Finale

That set up the two Sunday games. UCLA battled to a 31-24 win over Claremont Colleges, while Cal also had to work very hard to hold off Army 50-41.

Army was physical up front and led 29-24 after hooker Ryan Moshak's second try at the 47-minute mark.

"It was a really tough match," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "We would expect no less from the United States Military Academy."

The Bears jumped out to a 17-0 lead before Army scored three straight tries. The teams then traded two more scores to send Cal leading into the break, 24-22.

In the second half, a try scored by Moshak while Cal had only 13 players on the field gave the Black Knights a brief lead at 29-24. However, the Bears found some breathing room after responding three straight tries. A late try by the Black Knights' Paul Adams was answered when Cal stole a defensive lineout about 10 meters from the Army try line and center Christian Dyer finished the ensuing sequence with an insurance try.

"Army's rugby was good and they came to play," said Clark. "These are the types of matches that develop teams and players.

Fourth-year center Aisea Tongilava, a former High School All-American who played football at Cal, was a force.

Among the starters for the Bears was flyhalf Troy Lockyear, who made his return back to the pitch for the first time since a season-ending injury last spring. 

"It was amazing being back and playing on this field," Lockyear said. "There was such a great atmosphere, definitely exciting to be back on the field after some time away."

For Army, freshman Michael Meehan scored two tries on the day, and Paul Adams scored on his first start for the team.

"It was a lot of fun being back. I was able to see a lot of great friends," said Army head coach Matt Sherman, a former USA national team player who was a Cal All-American and won a national title under Clark in 2002. "We played with a lot of velocity, a lot of aggression, but our precision lacked and that was the difference in the game. But we'll build on those first two things, work in the precision, and we'll get better."

Army will stay in California to take on the Cal Maritime Academy on Tuesday and then prepares to play Navy on March 24.

Next up for the Bears is a trip to Salt Lake City, where Cal will face Utah in a PAC Rugby Conference contest on Saturday, March 17.