It’s a brisk Monday evening in Bridgeview. SeatGeek Stadium sits a whiff away from the borders of Chicago proper at 63rd Street and Harlem Avenue, and a low murmur hangs over the stadium.

For the middle of May, it is cold — flirting with sub-50 degrees on the field, a gritty wind crashing in. Perfect weather for a rugby match.

Swaths of Chicago Hounds rugby fans, many of whom lined the parking lot before the game tailgating for hours, file back into the chilled stands as halftime expired with their team down 10-14. It was a disappointing offensive first half, struggling to keep possession.

Then, Peyton Wall ignited in the 46th minute. The Hounds did what they struggled to do all game: find open space. After a tackle from opponents RFC Los Angeles near the tryline — like an endzone in football — five passes in under three seconds extended the play to the sideline as the speedy Wall found space.

Wall cut away from the sideline, bounding towards the tryline through two defenders after shaking the first, shoved a powerful stiff arm into the next and lifted the ball over the line as he tumbled in for the try. Suddenly, Chicago had the lead and all the momentum.

“Just spread the wall wide, get it to our playmakers like Noah Brown or me,” Wall said of the team’s gameplan. “We’ll get the job done. And we did that.”

Three more scoring changes turned the tides of the match until Los Angeles capped off a dramatic possession with a game-winning try in the final second. By the skin of their teeth and about two inches of the ball over the tryline, Los Angeles improved to 6-6-1 while Chicago fell to 8-5.

“We did some really good things,” Chris Latham, the Hounds’ first year head coach, said. “These games come down to big moments, and we lost the big moments right at the end there, unfortunately.”

The match had all the antics. It had massive tackles, critical moments, young stars and boisterous celebrations.

The Hounds are only three years into their history as one of now 11 Major League Rugby (MLR) teams in the US. They share the stadium with the Chicago Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League, another professional club looking to gain some traction.

Young playmakers like the outside back Wall may be the answer. The Fort Wayne native played football and rugby in high school before committing to Indiana University’s rugby program. Last season, Wall won Big Ten Most Valuable Player and led the Hoosiers to a conference title before being drafted 10th overall by the Hounds in August.

“(Wall) proved today that he’s got the game, and he’s proved that he’s got a big future,” Latham said. “Now it’s up to Peyton to see how much he wants to take it and how hard he needs to work … he’s a good kid, so I know it will go well.”

The veteran leadership from players like 34-year-old Dylan Fawsitt — who became the first player in MLR history to play 100 games this season — has helped the club to a winning record thus far while contributing to the development of fresh talent.

Another rookie, lock Tavius Sykora-Matthess, is from the Midwest and also played football at the collegiate level as well at Missouri Southern State University. The MLR proves a new way for American rugby players to extend their careers to the professional level on their home soil. Over 50% of the league’s players are American or Canadian, including Sykora-Matthess and Wall.

“I’ve definitely seen recently an uptick in youth teams, high school teams and players coming out of those high school teams,” DePaul men’s rugby club safety officer Jacob Walker said.

The MLR as a whole has seen attendance growth since its first championship in 2018. The game — which was in San Diego, California — had a mere 2,901 attendees. In 2024, it attracted 12,085 to SnapDragon Stadium, more than the capacity of Wintrust Arena.

“For a cold Monday night, it was awesome to see the fans,” Latham said after the game. “We’ve got a fantastic, loyal fan base. … We’ve got to keep playing rugby. We’ve got to look for results. The more results we get, the more the media gets hold of it. And the more the media gets hold of it, the more people are going to love it.”

Latham added that “I haven’t heard one person who comes to the game for the first time and doesn’t love it, doesn’t get hooked.”

Walker, a Chicagoland native and DePaul sophomore, has been following the Hounds since their conception in 2017. Though he says the stadium is inconveniently placed — a nearly two-hour commute from Lincoln Park via CTA — Walker believes the Hounds are primed for growth.

“(Location) is the biggest barrier right now, for sure. But solving that is going to take literally moving the team, so there’s not much that can be done about that right now,” Walker said. “I think one thing they’re doing really well is involving pubs in the area. They’re getting watch parties at pubs all throughout the city, and that’s sick.”

The Hounds sit third in the Eastern Conference, taking on five-seeded NOLA Gold on Saturday in Bridgeview.

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