Anthem RC Outlasted by Chicago Hounds, 20-28

CHICAGO, IL (April 13, 2025) – Anthem RC could not erase a 20-point second half deficit on Sunday afternoon, falling to Chicago Hounds 20-28. Ishma-eel Safodien, Jason Tidwell, and Ethan Howard scored the tries for Anthem RC.

Chicago came out of the gates hot, taking a 7-0 lead in the third minute through Mason Flesch.

A penalty deep in Chicago territory in the 9th minute led to Anthem deciding to take the points. Cam Gerlach attempted and made his first kick of the season to cut the lead to four.

Quickly after, Chicago had a response. Dylan Fawsitt churned his legs and a pushing pile got him into the try zone for a 14-3 lead.

Despite Anthem spending lots of time in Chicago territory, they could not get close to the try zone as Chicago’s defense stood tall.

Anthem needed defense to create their offense. In the 23rd minute, captain Sam Golla blocked a Chicago kick and it ricocheted into the hands of Safodien who dove in for the score to make it 14-8.

Fawsitt scored a brace right before the half to give Chicago a 21-8 lead going into the intermission.

Three minutes into the second half, Flesch scored a brace of his own to extend the lead to 20.

Anthem RC had a push of their own. Erich Storti pitched nicely to Tidwell out wide who touched down and with a Mitch Wilson conversion, the score changed to 28-15 in the 62nd minute.

Five minutes later, Howard scored his first try of the season, but Wilson could not convert the pivotal kick, leaving the score a two-possession game.

No one else could find the try zone and Chicago held on for a eight-point victory at SeatGeek Stadium.

QUOTES:

Coach Alama Ieremia on today’s perfomance:

“Frustrating because obviously the opportunities were there and I thought we did enough to get a little bit more momentum in the second half. Just some critical errors and turnovers at key times that stopped our momentum. In terms of the effort, I’m proud of the boys. It’s a group that fights. Last week, we probably let ourselves down in certain areas, and today, we showed up against a pretty good team in Chicago.”