Hounds Clinch Playoff Berth, Move to 7-0 with Win Over Legion

Flyhalf Chris Hilsenbeck led all scorers with 11 points, successfully kicking four of his five conversion attempts and one penalty attempt. Fullback Brock Webster, center Ollie Devoto, prop Fakaosifolau Pifeleti, flanker Mason Flesch, and reserve lock Brandon Harvey all scored tries in the winning effort.

Webster, coming off his second MLR Player of the Week accolade of the season, scored the first try of the day in the eighth minute. The Hounds started the passage of play with a scrum inside the Legion half. After going wide left off the scrum, scrumhalf Ruben De Haas marshalled his troops back to the right side of the field. One phase through the forwards. Two phases through the forwards. Until he went out to the backs and Devoto found Hilsenbeck on a well timed pass. The flyhalf did well to get another pass out to center Tavite Lopeti, who drew in one of the last Legion defenders and found a streaking Webster. The fullback broke free and threw a dummy pass to sift through the remaining defenders, scoring his fifth try of the season. The kick was no good, Hilsenbeck’s lone miss of the day.

California took a slight advantage in the 17th minute. With a scrum right in front of the Chicago try-line, the Legion attacked right through the big, bumbling center Cassh Maluia. He carried the ball inches before the line before the California scrumhalf spotted a gap around the base of the ruck. He dove for the score and with the conversion successful, California went into the first half water break with a 7-5 lead.

In the 23rd minute, Chicago earned a penalty and kicked for touch. The forwards tried to maul it over to no avail. They attacked the right side of the field for a few phases before heading out left. Lopeti once again did well to occupy the California defense and offloaded to his center partner Ollie Devoto. Devoto’s well-timed run was right at a gap in the defense and the veteran barreled over the line for his third score of the campaign. The kick was good, 12-7 in favor of Chicago.

California took control of the game in the last 10-minutes of the first half. A quick lineout from the Legion saw wing Joe Mano slice through the defense and score right near the sticks. Moments later, California won a penalty, kicked for touch, and used the forwards to drive over for their third score of the game. Chicago went into halftime trailing for the first time this season, with the scoreline 19-12 in favor of the home side.

The opening 20 minutes of the second half saw Chicago get a lot of opportunities to score- but they just couldn’t quite find their way over the tryline. They were camped out inside the Legion 22 for what felt like 15 minutes, but time and time again, the California defense would rise to the occasion and keep the Hounds out of the try zone. Despite dominating both possession and territory, the Hounds went into the second half water break with the same 7-point deficit. But then, it was Chicago’s time to shine.

The Hounds had a scrum inside their own half and chose to attack wide. Left wing Peyton Wall broke down the left sideline, making a few Legion defenders miss, and got tackled in the Legion’s 22. Flanker Mason Flesch caught the ball and broke the line, finding prop Charlie Abel with an offload pass. Abel did well to advance the ball even closer to paydirt. After a few phases of breaking down the California defense, De Haas popped the ball up to flanker Maclean Jones, who was just barely taken down. He connected with Pifeleti with an offload however, putting the veteran prop through for the score under the goalposts. Hilsenbeck tied the game with his successful conversion.

The Hounds earned a penalty in the 67th minute, and Hilsenbeck kicked the ball through the uprights for the Hounds’ first lead since the 18th minute, giving the visitors a 22-19 lead. Chicago then earned another penalty via the scrum and kicked for the corner. Mason Flesch, acting as first receiver, ran over two would-be defenders for the Hounds’ fourth try of the afternoon. With another successful Hilsenbeck conversion, Chicago extended the lead to 29-19 with just under 10 minutes left.

California responded with a borderline try that looked like it was knocked on, cutting the lead to 3. But Chicago iced the game with their fifth try of the day, with Brandon Harvey touching it down for his second score of the year. Chicago walked away with a 36-26 win in their toughest battle of the season, keeping their undefeated streak alive.

With the win, the Hounds set a new franchise record for most consecutive wins and clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive season. They are the first team in Major League Rugby to clinch a spot in the big dance. They now sit at 35 table points, top of the table, while Legion remains in second place, as of this writing, with 19 table points.

CHI: 36

CAL: 26

Scoring:

Tries: Brock Webster, Ollie Devoto, Fakaosifolau Pifeleti, Mason Flesch, Brandon Harvey

Conversions: Chris Hilsenbeck (⅘)

Penalties: Chris Hilsenbeck (1/1)

Lineup: