(CINCINNATI) Three St. Louis derby squads went to Cincinnati Gardens Saturday night with “shears” in their possession against Ohio-based counterparts that each contained a form of the word “sheep” in its respective team names.
A Show-Me State trifecta of overwhelming performances resulted in a lot of wool left on the flat track.
In the triple header’s main event, the Arch Rival Roller Girls All-Stars, ranked #21 internationally by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), roasted #44 Cincinnati Black Sheep, 300-118. In the middle B-team bout, ARRG’s Saint Lunachix skewered CRG’s Violent Lambs, 238-109. In the opener featuring men’s leagues, the St. Louis Gatekeepers grilled the Cincinnati Battering Rams, 432-33.
All cooking puns aside, the St. Louis dominance displayed in all three games were propelled by fast starts out of the chutes and punishing blocking. Collectively, the Gateway City’s derby squads outscored Cincinnati, 970-250.
Arch Rival skaters Mighty Mighty Boston and Rhino-Might pick up MVP Awards Saturday night vs. Cincinnati. Photo Credit: M. Rinehart
The Arch Rival All-Stars picked up its second straight win of the season with the 182-point triumph over the Black Sheep and improved overall to 2-1.
Twelve minutes deep into the bout, Arch Rival held a 67-36 lead. The locals then went on a 29-0 run and extended the margin to 96-36 with 13:00 left in the half.
As the period progressed, a trio of Arch Rival power jams blew the differential wide open. Jammers Brickyard, IDA the Living Dead and Sleazy E posted 19, 18 and 14 points respectively on their rotations, which extended ARRG’s lead to 153-48 with 4:45 left in the period.
The blocking schema of Rhino-Might, Eli Wallop, Tupac Shank-her, Downtown Dallis, Shimmy Hoffa, Party Foul, Mayor Francis Slayer and Girl Fawkes kept Cincinnati points minimal for the remainder of the half. St. Louis sported a 183-55 advantage at intermission.
Arch Rival put the machine in cruise control in the second half. Mighty Mighty Boston collected 20 points with 10:00 left to push the lead to 248-91.
ARRG outscored the Black Sheep 117-63 in the second period en route to the win. Brickyard paced St. Louis scoring with 136 points unofficially.
Photo Credit: M. Rinehart
Arch Rival hosts #27 No Coast Mad Maxines (Lincoln, NE) on Saturday, May 10 at Midwest Sport Hockey.
In the b-team bout, ARRG’s Saint Lunachix sprinted out to a 21-0 lead six minutes deep. Lunachix jammer AKA Rogue tacked on a 15-point power jam at 18:40 to widen the St. Louis margin to 40-4.
Trailing 69-11 with ten minutes left in the period, CRG’s Violent Lambs reorganized the flock and whittled away at the deficit. A 49-11 run ensued, which cut the gap to 81-60 in favor of ARRG at halftime.
After Cincinnati scored 17 uncontested points off the first two jams of the second period, which narrowed St. Louis’ lead to 81-77, the Saint Lunachix responded with a 64-0 rally over the next five jams. Punctuated by Sleazy E’s 29-point power jam scored ith 19:10 remaining, St. Louis pushed the score to 145-77.
The Lunachix topped the bi-centennial mark after Molecular Mayhem scored eight points with 7:10 left, which widened its lead to 202-88.
Meanwhile, St. Louis blocking silenced the Lambs in the second half. Paced by The Ginger Assassin, M. Rinehart, Jamheiser Bush, Party RockHer, Science Friction, C. Coonrod, Morgan LeFaetal and others, the Saint Lunachix outscored Cincinnati, 157-49, in the second period, to pick up the 238-109 victory.
Sleazy E scored 76 points to pace the Lunachix (1-2) while Mayhem and EnYa Nightmare each scored 55. The ARRG b-team hosts the No Coast Road Warriors at Midwest Sport Hockey on Saturday, May 10.
In the men’s flat-track opener, the St. Louis Gatekeepers picked up its first victory of the travel team campaign with the 432-33 shellacking of the Cincinnati Battering Rams.
The Gatekeepers posted massive points early, rolling out to a 103-0 lead fifteen minutes deep. The shutout continued for the remainder of the half as St. Louis possessed a 207-0 advantage at intermission.
St. Louis outscored Cincinnati 225-33 in the second period to collect the 399-point victory, its largest winning point differential in league history.
The Gatekeepers continue sanctioned play in the Men’s Roller Derby Association with a trio of bouts at Spring Roll, a two-day invitational held in Ft. Wayne, IN the weekend of May 16. St. Louis will face the Mont Royals (Monteal, QC, Canada), the Magic City Misfits (Jacksonville, FL) and Southern Discomfort (London, UK.)
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, go to www.archrivalrollergirls.com.
For more information on the St. Louis Gatekeepers, go to www.stlgatekeepers.com.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
