(PHILADELPHIA, PA) St. Louis-based Arch Rival Roller Derby kept their post-season winning ways moving forward with a 225-82 victory over the London Rollergirls in a quarterfinal qualifier for the Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association Division 1 Championships held at the Liacouras Center Friday.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Ranked seventh internationally by the WFTDA, ARCH (7-4) moves to Saturday’s “Elite Eight” and faces two-time defending Hydra Cup champ Rose City at Noon Eastern (11 AM Central).
The win saw St. Louis dominate the game in lead jams obtained (27-13) and spending twenty minutes less than London in the penalty box (19 to 39 in favor of ARCH).
Trailing 3-1 after two jams, Arch Rival flipped the scoreboard to their favor, 21-3, after jammer Bolt Action’s 20-point strike. Harmony Killerbruise added 10 on the next rotation that pushed the score to 31-3 at the 23:00 mark.
A stubborn defense, paced by blockers Salty, Shear-Ra Powers, K. Woodward, Cloak N’ DragHer, Grant, CupQuake, Smarty McFly, Vicious VanGoGo and Shimmy Hoffa, kept the Brits’ scoring low while widening the differential as the period progressed.
St. Louis sported a 68-20 lead after Jam 13 and on the next flight, Annie Swanson scored 14 that pushed the tally to 82-20 with eight minutes left in the half.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Louis held a 110-38 at intermission.
London started strong in the second period a collected a 20-4 run. Punctuated by AnDracula’s seven scored in Jam 6, LRG narrowed the score to 114-58.
ARCH responded with a 36-0 game-clinching run over the next five jams. Concluded by Reptar’s 13-pointer scored with left, St. Louis’ lead blossomed to 150-58 with 17:00 left.
An additional 29-0 streak later achieved and finished with five minutes remaining widened the score even more, 185-72. St. Louis outscored London in the second period, 115-44, en route to the 225-82 victory and placement in the bracket’s quarterfinals.
Action topped ARCH scoring with 56 points, followed by Swanson’s 54.
Rose City received automatic quarterfinal placement with their gold medal finish at the WFTDA D1 playoff round held in Seattle, Washington in September.
An audio stream of Saturday’s Arch Rival/Rose City game can be heard for free via WFTDA at this LINK.
ARCH RIVAL INDIVIDUAL SCORING Bolt Action 56, Annie Swanson 54, Bricktator 48, Reptar 37, Harmony Killerbruise 21.
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.
