BC Kicks Off 2016 in Scrimmage Against Cal

The University of California Berkeley Bears invited Barbary Coast to friendly, pre-season scrimmage held at the California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

A disciplined and well-coached Bears team controlled the first half of the game, earning several quick goals that led them to a 4-3 lead going into halftime.  The BC offense was sparked by dodging efforts from Kevin Nguygen, Kevin Busch, and Nick Richards resulting in goals from Dan Vilar, Logan Quinn, Max Raynor, Kyle Jordan, and Tom Bendon (yes – that Tom Bendon).   BC struggled to earn possession against a resilient and scrappy Bears face-off unit during the third quarter but rallied behind a strong defensive showing led by hard-nosed slides from Dayton Gilbreath and conspicuous take-away checks by Frankie “Hitman” Cuneo.

Standout goalie play from Tyler Page and Matt Levy allowed BC the footing to run with a persistent and calculating Bears midfield late into the game.  Somewhere in the fourth quarter, BC was at last able to win a few decisive face-offs which led to key goals that put BC ahead by a nose.  Not going down without a fight, Cal executed an offensive blitz that challenged Barbary’s defensive and clearing efforts.  When the dust settled, BC had edged out an 8-5 win against their cross-Bay friends.

A substantial and sincere thank you to the Cal Bears and head coach Ned Webster for including BC in a strong pre-season trial for both teams.  Best of luck to a very talented Bears team as they kick off their MCLA season in a home game against UC Davis under the lights on February 5th at 7:30pm.