(MILWAUKEE, WI) This past weekend, a pair of local roller derby leagues saw winning streaks snapped at Midwest BrewHaHa held at US Cellular Arena, but in the process, both developed game play that will be essential for late-season pushes.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Arch Rival, currently ranked #21 internationally by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), dropped games to #10 Minnesota, 228-115, and #13 Naptown, 189-144. The setback against Minnesota snapped St. Louis’ four-game winning streak and the ensuing weekend against its higher-ranked opposition dropped the team’s record to 4-3 overall.
The St. Chux Derby Chix, ranked #44 internationally by the WFTDA, suffered its first defeat of the season in a 216-200 loss to #54 Arizona. The St. Charles County-based rollers rebounded with a 204-162 win over #66 Brewcity to shore a weekend split and improve to 7-1.
Although the derby dashes broken for both might have caused a little discomfort at the moment, future effects could potentially play out in each league’s favor.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
As there are no regional boundaries or win/loss standings involved within the WFTDA rankings, all 196 international leagues eligible for rank are collectively positioned highest to lowest.
Teams are individually ranked based upon mathematical methods that incorporate bout results, differentials and opponent strength within a designated time period. Using this calculated system, a competitive loss to a higher-ranked league potentially becomes more beneficial than a marginal win over a lower-ranked league.
In essence for Division 1 Arch Rival and Division 2 St. Chux, the sips from BrewHaHa might not have been the smoothest, but its aftertaste was far from bitter.
How the weekend’s results applied to each respective league’s placement on the WFTDA totem pole will be determined when the governing body reveals its latest rankings later this week.
#10 MINNESOTA ROLLERGIRLS 228, #21 ARCH RIVAL 115
Friday night’s match-up against the highly-touted Minnesotans saw St. Louis behind the 8-ball early. Four minutes deep, Minnesota raced out to a 31-0 lead.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
After a two-point pickup from Arch Rival jammer Brickyard in jam five, Annie Swanson netted a 15-9 power jam on the next rotation to pull the locals to 40-17 with 21:45 left in the period. Mighty Mighty Boston tacked on a solo point in jam seven to whittle the gap to 22 points.
Minnesota rebounded and widened its lead to 67-33 with 12:30 left in the frame.
Arch Rival’s Brickyard and her blocking sistren notched its largest jam of the contest in jam 14, a 24-pointer that narrowed the margin to 75-57 with 10:45 left in the period.
Minnesota, feeling the heat, retaliated with a 23-4 run over the next four jams, resulting in a 98-61 lead with 6:30 left.
St. Louis scored 18 straight in the next two jams. Boston’s four was followed by a 14-point power jam from Brickyard with 3:10 left that pulled Arch Rival closer, 98-79.
Minnesota notched an 11-0 run in the final two jams of the period and sported a 109-79 lead at intermission.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Gopher State differential was maintained in the early stages of the second period. Six minutes deep, Minnesota possessed a 132-105 lead and then rolled out a 34-0 rally over the next six rotations. By capitalizing on a pair of power jams that netted double-digit results, Minnesota widened its lead to 166-105 with 17:20 left in the game.
Arch Rival attempted to stay close as Boston broke the drought with a three-pointer notched with 16:20 left, but Minnesota’s 26-0 rally over the next four jams put the higher-ranked team comfortably in the lead. With 11:00 remaining, Minnesota pushed the score to 192-108.
Minnesota outscored Arch Rival 119-36 in the second period to pick up the 228-115 victory that snapped Arch Rival’s four-game winning streak.
Brickyard paced St. Louis with 45 points, followed by Boston’s 36.
#13 NAPTOWN TORNADO SIRENS 189, #21 ARCH RIVAL 144
Saturday morning’s duel with the Indianapolis-based rollers contained holes in the Arch Rival roster. St. Louis was missing two key components, team-leading scorer Brickyard and starting blocker Party Foul, due to prior personal commitments.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
If that wasn’t enough of a concern, supplemental jammer Chokehold Chanel was scratched with an injury that occurred while competing earlier in the weekend. Add to that the uncertainty of Boston, who tweaked a knee in the Minnesota game, and one had to feel doubtful against the thirteenth-ranked team in the WFTDA.
To its credit, Arch Rival played tight defensively in the first period and actually sported a lead midway through the frame. Down 4-1 three jams in, Boston, apparently showing no ill effects of a potential injury, collected a 15-point power jam with 24:50 left in period to give St. Louis 16-4 lead.
Naptown notched four in the next rotation, and then Arch Rival responded with a 13-0 run. Sleazy E scored seven points via a power jam at 21:10 and Boston followed with six to stretch Arch Rival’s lead to 29-8 with 20:00 left in the period.
Naptown surged offensively on the next rotation and collected a 19-5 non-lead power jam from Maiden America to cut the gap to 34-27 with 17:40 left in the period.
Arch Rival kept the distance at seven points over the next two jams, but Naptown went on a 14-0 run to flip the scoreboard to its favor. America’s nine scored in jam 11 was followed by a five-pointer from Amooze Booche that put Indianapolis on top by seven, 45-38, with 13:15 left in the period.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
After Arch Rival scored five collective points on the next two jams, Booche tacked on a baker’s dozen that stretched the lead to 58-43 with 10:20 left.
Propelled by a stubborn Arch Rival blocking schema, paced by Mayor Francis Slayer, Eli Wallop, Downtown Dallis, Shimmy Hoffa, Girl Fawkes and a host of others, St. Louis countered with 14 points straight as Boston and Swanson scored five and nine, respectively, to whittle Naptown’s margin to a solo point, 58-57, with 7:30 left in the period.
The Tornado Sirens mounted a 41-5 surge to finish the period. Via a pair of power jams, America collected 20 points on the period’s final rotation, extending Naptown’s lead to 99-62 at intermission.
Indianapolis’ ratio closely approached 2:1 in the early stages of the second half. A 20-6 run out of the gates stretched its lead to 119-68 eight minutes deep.
Arch Rival showed signs of life deep with double-digit power jams but collectively were outscored by Naptown, 90-82, in the second period. St. Louis’ 45-point setback resulted in a winless BrewHaHa.
Arch Rival (4-3) returns to WFTDA-sanctioned play with a road trip to #15 Atlanta on June 14.
#54 ARIZONA TENT CITY TERRORS 216, #44 ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX 200
Saturday night’s marquee bout at BrewHaHa, featuring a pair of unbeatens, saw St. Chux against the rapidly-rising Tent City Terrors, a team that jumped 28 positions in the recent rankings. In a highly-competitive bout that saw numerous lead changes, Arizona sealed the victory in the bout’s final minutes.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Following a bout-opening 1-1 jam, St. Chux took advantage of a pair of power jams, resulting in 24 points scored by Flash and the Pack In Black rolled out to 25-1 lead. A 4-4 push on the next jam made the score 29-5 with 24:20 left in the first period.
Arizona responded with a 21-pointer from Luz Chaos that whittled the St. Chux lead to 29-26. Following a scoreless rotation, a 7-6 jam from Arizona’s Atomatrix narrowed the margin to a pair of points, 35-33 with 19:45 left.
St. Chux widened its margin two jams later as Vixen TaGetcha posted an 18-4 strike at the 17:00 mark, which extended the Pack In Black’s lead to 53-37. Thanks to solid St. Chux blocking, paced by Whip L’Ash, Stabby McCutcha, Ninja Sass ‘Em, Slaugherhaus, Tara Eyes and a host of others, the score stretched to 70-48 with 13:00 left in the half.
Arizona erased the deficit in jam 14 as Atomatrix’s 19-pointer scored with 11:10 left narrowed the score to 70-67. The jammer then notched an 8-4 strike two rotations later to give the Tent City Terrors its first lead of the bout, 79-74.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Arizona widened its margin to 106-93 with 2:30 left and then in the period’s penultimate jam, St. Chux’s GI Jamie and her blocking sistren posted a 17-point power jam, resulting in a 110-106 scoreboard flip in favor of the Pack in Black with :35 remaining.
Chaos notched a four-pointer for Arizona in the final rotation that dead locked the bout, 110-110, at intermission.
St. Chux went on a 17-3 run to start the second period. Accented by Flash’s 9-point power jam, SC/DC built a 127-113 advantage four minutes deep. More Arizona miscues ensued as the period progressed and St. Chux widened its lead to 161-134 with 18:00 left.
Arizona rolled out three consecutive four pointers to cut the gap to 161-146 with 15:12 remaining and then Atomatrix posted a 17-4 strike on the next rotation to narrow St. Chux’s lead to two points, 165-163.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Once again, jammer penalties plagued Arizona and SC/DC took advantage. Three straight power jams resulted in a 20-7 rally and the Pack In Black widened its lead to 185-170 with 7:50 left.
Undaunted, Arizona narrowed the lead to a pair of points as Atomatrix anchored a 23-10 jam with 5:20 left that shrunk SC/DC’s lead to 195-193.
A 5-5 push on the next rotation, which maintained St. Chux’s edge at 200-198, was followed by the bout’s final lead change that favored the lower-ranked league. Arizona notched a 13-point power jam with 1:45 left that flipped the scoreboard to its favor, 211-200.
Tight Terrors’ defense in the final two rotations kept St. Chux at bay and Arizona snatched the 216-200 victory to improve to 7-0.
SC/DC’s Jamie, Flash and Jedi Knight-N-Gale each collected over 50 points in the bout.
#44 ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX 204, #66 BREWCITY BRUISERS 162
After seeing its unblemished record smeared on Saturday night, St. Chux went back to the drawing board Sunday evening in its battle with the BrewHaHa hostesses. In a topsy-turvy affair, the Pack In Black utilized penalty-drawing strategies in order to pick up the 42-point victory.
Up 14-13 after the opening jam, SC/DC went on a 22-1 rally over the next three rotations. Flash posted eight in jam two and Knight-N-Gale and TaGetcha each added seven on their ensuing jams as SC/DC stretched its lead to 36-14 with 24:05 left in the frame.
After each team tacked on a pair of points that kept the differential at 22, Brewcity notched is first explosive jam of the bout. Bruisers’ jammer Frank Hurt’r posted 20 in jam 8 that made the bout a two-point affair, 38-36, with 18:30 left. St. Chux collected a baker’s dozen in the next three rotations to stretch its lead back to double-digits, 51-36.
Brewcity responded with a 19-0 run that inevitably resulted in the bout’s first lead change. After Stormin’ DaCastle tied the score 51-51 with 12:10 left, Hurt’r posted four on the next rotation to flip the scoreboard to the Bruisers’ favor, 55-51.
The lead was short-lived, as on the next rotation, another Brewcity jammer penalty resulted in 30 points scored by Knight-N-Gale that pushed SC/DC ahead, 81-55, with 7:40 left in the period.
Brewcity kept clawing away at the differential as the period concluded and trailed 96-85 at intermission.
That “stick-to-it“ attitude paid off in the early stages of the second period. Down 105-99 five jams deep, Brewcity’s Sharkira collected an eight point strike at 22:45, resulting in a 108-105 lead change for the Bruisers.
Once again, the lead lasted all of one rotation as a St. Chux power jam resulted in 15 points for Knight-N-Gale and the Pack In Black regained the lead, 120-108.
Surrendered power jams became a recurring nightmare for Brewcity as the period progressed and SC/DC fully took advantage. Every time the Bruisers came within striking distance, St. Chux would implement defensive blocking strategies that would draw track cuts on Milwaukee jammers. Some might call it “trickery” while others apply the more accurate “using your derby smarts.”
Up 133-117 with 13:00 left, SC/DC got the first of four late-bout power jams, resulting in a 15-pointer collected by Jamie that pushed the score to 148-120. Jamie added 14 via the same method two jams later, which widened the lead to 166-130 with 6:50 left.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Flash added 13 on the next rotation with another power jam as SC/DC was burning its opponent, 179-143, with 4:20 left.
Whereas Brewcity’s penalty count was rapidly rising, the Pack In Black played clean down the stretch. In fact, no St. Chux blocker made more than three trips to the penalty box for the bout.
SC/DC outscored Brewcity 108-77 in the second period en route to 204-162 win and a BrewHaHa split. Knight-N-Gale finished with 85 points while Jamie added 72.
St. Chux (7-1) returns to WFTDA sanctioned play with a “Texas Toe-stop Two-step” this Saturday at #69 Dallas.
In other action at BrewHaHa, Arch Rival’s developmental b-team, the Saint Lunachix, finished the weekend 1-1 and improved to 4-3 overall.
MINNESOTA NICE 195, ARRG SAINT LUNACHIX 160
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Lunachix returned to BrewHaHa riding a three game winning streak. Participants at BrewHaHa’s last three installments, the locals headed into its match-up against the Minneapolis-based squad that topped them by 24 points at home last August.
As anticipated, both teams fought hard. With 5:00 left in the first period, the Saint Lunachix maintained a 68-62 lead.
The Nice went on a 32-10 scoring streak down the stretch and sported a 104-72 lead at intermission.
The Lunachix kept pace with Minnesota as the second period progressed, but the halftime deficit was maintained as the Nice outscored the Lunachix 91-88 in the second period en route to the 35-point win.
ARRG SAINT LUNACHIX 250, #192 FOX CITYZ FOXZ 104
In its bout against the Appleton, Wisconsin-based A-team, currently ranked #192 in the WFTDA, the St. Louis b-team utilized a punishing attack, aided by opponent’s penalties, to pick up the 146-point win. Ten minutes deep, Fox Cityz held a 16-7 advantage.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Lunachix tied the bout, 32-32, following Artemischief’s 25-16 power jam scored with 18:00 left in the period. The Foxz went on a 33-8 run over the next eleven minutes and stretched its lead to 65-40 with 7:00 left in the half.
The Lunachix responded with 28 points unanswered. A pair of power jam from Sleazy E and Molecular Mayhem, which tallied 18 and 10 points respectively, resulted in a 68-65 scoreboard flip in favor of St. Louis with 3:35 remaining. A 4-4 push in the period’s penultimate jam was followed by Warpath O. Jen’s four-pointer which gave Arch Rival’s b-team a 76-69 lead at intermission.
As much as the action was tight between the two teams in the first period, it was anything but during the first ten minutes of the second. The Lunachix capitalized on multiple power jams early and engineered a huge lead. Sleazy anchored individual rotations of 16, 34 and 25 points as the Lunachix blossomed its lead to 159-78 with 17:00 left.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Meanwhile, the Lunachix blocking schema, paced by The Ginger Assassin, Morgan LeFaetal, Science Friction, Jamheiser Bush, Sp!ce Rack, Carrie Coonrod, AKA Rogue, Fletch-A-Sketch and Cloak N’ DragHer, held Fox Cityz scoring in the second period to 11 points through twenty minutes.
The Lunachix topped the 200-point barrier after Sleazy notched 10 points with 4:10 left which made the score 209-100. Fletch-A-Sketch, a blocker by trade, donned the star in the final jam for St. Louis and collected 30 points.
The Lunachix outscored Fox Cityz 173-35 in the second period to pick up the 250-104 victory and the BrewHaHa split. Sleazy E’s 115 points paced St. Louis scoring, followed by Artemischief’s 48.
The Saint Lunachix return to action at Midwest Sport Hockey in Ballwin against Ohio Gang Green on August 9.
The fifth installment of the three-day BrewHaHa entailed 25 teams that competed in a total of 35 bouts that took place on two separate tracks. WFTDA-sanctioned and regulated women’s bouts, men’s match-ups and junior derby exhibitions were featured.
Scores from BrewHaHa can be accessed by going to Derby News Network.
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, go to archrivalrollergirls.com.
For more information on the St. Chux Derby Chix, go to stchuxderbychix.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.
