By Aaron Wilson
It’s a race to the finish for the Houston SaberCats.
They absorbed a setback Wednesday night, falling to the Chicago Hounds in a tightly-contested defensive match.
The SaberCats fell behind in another slow start, played in rainy conditions in Chicago.
Pita Anae-Ah Sue had a try for the SaberCats and a conversion in the first half by A.J. Alatimu.
Alatimu added a try in the second half, but the Hounds kept their narrow edge with a penalty goal from Chris Hilsenbeck to beat the banged-up SaberCats.
“It was a very scrappy sort of game,” team captain Nathan Den Hoedt said. “It was raining here in Chicago and it was very wet, a lot of kicking involved. We just weren’t desperate enough at times. It was disappointing. We’re looking to improve in general. We got caught a little flat. It was unfortunate.”
The 15-12 defeat impacts the SaberCats’ opportunity to earn homefield advantage in the playoffs, but they still have a chance to earn the second seed in the Western Conference division.
The SaberCats are 9-6 overall with 49 points, two less than RFC Los Angeles, who’s 8-1-6 and have 50 points, and the Utah Warriors, who are 10-5 and have 53 points to lead the Western Conference.
The SaberCats have a home match against Anthem RC on Sunday. They are winless at 0-15.
“Obviously, we were trying to get that win,” Den Hoedt said. “It would have been nice to finish first, but we still have a chance to finish second. We’ve just got to take care of our job. Obviously, this game was a very important one. If we can finish second, that would be good for the playoffs. We’ve got to win the game.”
Alatimu (seven points) and Anae-Ah Sue (five points) scored all of the SaberCats’ points.
Max Schumacher led the SaberCats with 14 carries, followed by nine for Anae-Ah Sue.
Schumacher led the squad with 55 meters made, followed by 40 for Marno Redelinghuys as he returned to action.
Jay Renton led the team with 34 passes.
And Johan Momsen led the team with 14 tackles, three more than Redelinghuys.
“We just lacked a lot of energy to begin the game,” Den Hoedt said. “We were flat. That’s not really the way we like to start the game. It’s definitely something we need to work on and improve coming from this game for the weekend.”
