(BALLWIN, MO) In order for the primary travel squad of the Arch Rival Roller Girls to keep its record in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) unblemished Saturday night, they had to do a little bit of mid-point soul searching.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Louis, ranked #11 internationally by the WFTDA, utilized a 47-6 run early in the second half en route to its 209-161 victory over #21 Detroit at Midwest Sport Hockey.
The 48-point win pushed Arch Rival’s WFTDA sanctioned record to 12-0, and 13-0 overall, and provided a catalyst for the team as it embarks on a Sunshine State trip next weekend for battles against #9 Jacksonville and #18 Tampa Bay prior to its post-season tilt at the WFTDA Division 1 playoffs in September.
“With this game and with the Florida games coming up, we’re using this as a way to fine tune everything heading into playoffs,” said Arch Rival co-captain Party Foul.
At the game’s launch, Detroit muzzled the raucous Queeny Park crowd by notching six straight lead jams. Following a trio of four-pointers from Meryl Slaughterburgh, Helen Killer and Feta Sleeeze, Detroit possessed a 21-0 advantage six minutes in.
“I think we were taken aback by their early point run,” assessed Arch Rival blocker Chewblocka of Motown’s opening “black-jack” rally. “We weren’t under-estimating them, but we had to come back with a little more grit and determination than we expected to.”
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Arch Rival whittled Detroit’s lead to 28-21 over the next four rotations and flipped the scoreboard, 35-31, following Annie Swanson’s 14-3 power jam with 17:50 left in the period.
Another Detroit penalty in jam 12 resulted in another Arch Rival power jam. Harmony Killerbruise collected 15 points in the strike and pushed St. Louis’ lead to 50-31 with 16:10 left in the first period.
St. Louis jammer Bricktator added five on the next rotation to push the margin to 55-31.
As the period progressed, Detroit managed to slice at the differential and inevitably close the game to single digits. Trailing 61-43 heading into jam 16, a pair of power jams yielded 15 points for Sleeze and Detroit closed the gap, 61-58, with 10:40 left in the half.
Back-to-back four-pointers for Arch Rival’s Killerbruise and Bricktator followed, which widened St. Louis’ margin to 69-58 with 8:30 left in the frame.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Detroit countered with a 13-1 run in the next three minutes and regained the lead, 71-70, after Killer’s eight-point jam with five minutes left in the half.
Arch Rival then posted 22 straight in a late half surge. Boston collected ten with 2:15 left to regain the lead for St. Louis, 80-71. Swanson’s power jam-aided, dozen-point strike on the period’s penultimate jam pushed the advantage to 92-71 with thirty seconds left.
Detroit finished the first period with a 12-7 collection from Slaughterburgh, which narrowed Arch Rival’s lead at halftime, 99-83.
No doubt, St. Louis’ 15-point intermission advantage was anything but safe considering the hard-charge from Motown.
“We felt that we could come back, full-throttle, and make this one a win,” said Party Foul of Arch Rival’s mood at halftime. “It was up to us to go after that win.”
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The motivation helped Arch Rival fuel a 47-6 run in the first nine minutes of the second period. Leading 105-86 after two jams, Swanson’s 14-point power jam at the 26:15 mark pushed St. Louis’ lead to 119-86.
The score was pushed to 131-89 following two more rotations and then Boston collected a 15-point power jam with 21:20 left to widen St. Louis’ lead to 146-89.
With stubborn blocking supplied by the aforementioned Chewblocka and Foul, alongside Emily Rinehart, Shimmy Hoffa, Mayor Francis Slayer, Jamheiser Bush, Kayla Seiber, The Ginger Assassin, Cloak N’ Drag-Her and Kristin Grant , Arch Rival kept Detroit in check and kept the differential at the same clip.
Swanson’s 14-point jam with 2:05 left secured victory for the locals. Arch Rival outscored Detroit, 110-82, in the second period to notch the 209-161 victory that extended St. Louis’ winning streak to twelve WFTDA-sanctioned games.
After Arch Rival’s upcoming weekend trek to Florida, it competes at the WFTDA Division 1 playoff round in Tucson, Arizona. In the ten-team bracketed tournament, St. Louis faces sixth-seeded Team United Roller Derby in a September 4 quarterfinal match-up.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
According to Arch Rivals’s Chewblocka, Saturday’s rough and tumble match-up against Detroit served as a solid primer for the team’s upcoming docket.
“We’re going to take away a lot of lessons from this one,” she said. “Detroit is a very comparable team to (Team United). Detroit gave us a big challenge tonight, so we need to learn where we can improve and be stronger.”
Swanson paced Arch Rival scoring with 66 points followed by Killerbruise’s 52.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ARCH RIVAL ALL-STARS (209): Annie Swanson 66, Harmony Killerbruise 52, Mighty Mighty Boston 48, Bricktator 33, Party Foul 10.
DETROIT DERBY GIRLS (161): Feta Sleeze 68, Helen Killer 51, Meryl Slaughterburgh 37, Swift Justice 3, Racer McChaseHer 2.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
In the b-team bout that followed, ARRG’s Saint Lunachix improved to 4-1 on the season with a 264-160 victory over Kansas City Roller Warriors Plan B. Chix jammer Cupquake unofficially collected 127 points in the win while Arch Rival blocker Grave Danger donned the star in the game’s final rotation and notched 16 points to conclude her ten-season tenure with the league.
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, go to its official Facebook page.
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.
