North American Rugby Database

Report

The Chicago Hounds host the Houston SaberCats for a rare Wednesday night clash at Seatgeek Stadium. The Hounds are coming off a tight turnaround, having also hosted the NOLA Gold just 5 days ago on Saturday May 31st. The SaberCats are fresh off an extended bye, but will be flying back to Houston to host Anthem RC at the weekend, on a 4 day turnaround.

Heading into this game, the Hounds sit 2nd in the East and just 2pts back from 1st place following a strong win over the NOLA Gold last week. They only need a point to secure a home semifinal as the 2nd seed, but will want to pressure the Free Jacks in 1st. In the West, the Houston SaberCats are in a 3-way fight for the top seed, and will want as many points as they can to try and secure home advantage of their own with two games remaining, both in Round 17. These teams have met 4 times in the past, with the Houston SaberCats holding a 3-1 series lead. Who will take the 5th installment of the Cats v Dogs clash!?

With the rain coming down in Chicago, both teams struggled to handle the ball early on but it was the Hounds who adjusted faster. A yellow card to the SaberCats gave Chicago the perfect opportunity off of an attacking lineout, and Jackson Zabierek rumbled over at the back of the Hounds rolling maul to open the scoring with his first MLR try. In his first start of the season, Zabierek would score almost a carbon copy try just 7 minutes later to give the Hounds a 0-12 lead just after the first water break. Chicago would receive a yellow card of their own just before half-time due to a high tackle from Hamish Bain, and the SaberCats would strike back through Pita Anae-Ah Sue. Alatimu’s conversion pulled the score back to 12-7 at the break.

When the 2nd half began, the Hounds were almost immediately shown another yellow for another high tackle, this time by Matt Oworu. With Bain still in the bin, Chicago were down to 13 men for roughly two minutes, but held firm. The second half was characterized by handling errors and strong defensive stands, and the first points of the half didn’t come until the 65th minute when AJ Alatimu trotted over unopposed in the corner from short range following another yellow card to Chicago, this time Ollie Devoto. He was unable to convert however, so the score sat at 12-12 with 15 minutes to play. With just over 10 minutes remaining, the Hounds were awarded a penalty and opted to go for points. Hilsenbeck stepped up and nailed a long distance, but relatively straight, attempt to give the Hounds a narrow lead. They looked like they would extend their lead in the 77th minute as the Chicago forwards barrelled over the try line but it was deemed held up, and the SaberCats had one last chance to take the victory. Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, Matt Oworu won a superb turnover and the Hounds kicked the ball out to take a 15-12 victory despite 3 yellow cards throughout the match.

Chicago take the lead in the Eastern Conference and record a 11-5 record for the 2025 regular season, meaning that the Free Jacks need a victory to claim the number 1 spot for the 4th year in a row. Coming off of a bye week, the Houston SaberCats have 1 game remaining this year to fight for home advantage in the Western Conference.