Arch Rival Roller Girls’ co-captain Mayor Francis Slayer remembers the date vividly. March 30, 2013.
That morning in a “closed to the public” game in Lincoln, Nebraska, the St. Louis-based All-Stars pummeled Omaha by 336 points. Somewhat anticipated, considering the disparity between the two leagues, but nonetheless impressive.
Fast forward eight hours later and the locals were engaged in a last-jam sprint with the hosting No Coast Mad Maxines, another lower-ranked team. Before 1,500 rabid Nebraskans, a topsy-turvy bout turned into a photo finish…and a heart-wrenching three-point setback for Slayer and her sistren.
Arch Rival had fallen to No Coast, 149-146, which was considered at the time an upset within the derby community.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
“(They) caught us off-guard with some very physical play and they highlighted our weaknesses,” said Slayer of nail biter. “We had played Omaha earlier in the day, and just didn’t expect the level of play that No Coast brought to that game. Our loss to (them) last year was a wake-up call to the team in 2013.”
A chance at redemption is on the docket this Saturday as Arch Rival, currently ranked #21 internationally by Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), hosts #31 No Coast at Midwest Sport Hockey in Queeny Park (570 Weidman Rd., Ballwin, MO) The first whistle blows at 6:30 pm.
ARRG (2-1) is aiming for its third straight win and keeping its unblemished four-year home record at the West County venue intact (14-0).
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
After defeating #30 Madison by 29 points at home on April 12, St. Louis steamrolled #56 Cincinnati, 300-118, one week later by utilizing a combination of stealth jamming and pulverizing blocking. Arch Rival built a 183-55 halftime lead en route to the 182-point triumph and its second straight duke.
Arch Rival plans to utilize last month’s hard-charging efforts as a template for Saturday in order to maintain traction in its monthly WFTDA rank, which remained at #21 when released by the governing body Wednesday.
“We are happy with our wins against Madison and Cincinnati, but we are focused on tightening up our game and improving the execution of our strategy,” said Slayer. “We are going into a nine game stretch between now and June 30, so we need to be consistently playing at or near the top of our game for the next two months.”
The positive vibes found after the April bouts, and throughout the season thus far, has been a top priority for the locals.
‘We got in a rut last year where we would be upset after a bout, even if we won,’ said Arch Rival co-captain Brickyard. “So one of our goals for this season is to celebrate every win, and I think it has definitely boosted our confidence.”
Personally, the jammer had plenty of reasons to smile after the Cincinnati bout, including her 136 individual points collected that night. Her star-capped co-partners, Mighty Mighty Boston and IDA the Living Dead, also scored high numbers and all three will be in the rotation Saturday.
However, impressive triple-digit outputs would not be possible if not for the Arch Rival blocking schema, paced by Slayer, Girl Fawkes, Party Foul, Eli Wallop, Downtown Dallis, Tupac ShankHer, Rhino-Might and a host of others.
“It has been a tremendous help to our jammers,” assesses Brickyard. “In particular, it is exciting to get lead, come around the pack, and see that your wall of blockers is still holding the opposing jammer back. That’s what wins bouts.”
In order to maintain its unblemished home record Saturday, Arch Rival has to topple the Nebraskan team that looks to hit the .500 mark.
No Coast (1-2) picked up its first sanctioned win of the season against #73 Fargo Moorhead in March then dropped April bouts against #10 Minnesota (301-84) and #34 Oklahoma Victory (198-133).
No Coast Jammer Christy Johnson – Photo Credit: No Coast Derby Girls
After consistently placing in the 20s in the WFTDA hierarchy for the past twelve months, the Mad Maxines slipped four positions to its current placement of #31 with Wednesday’s rankings release.
Numerous skaters involved in the ARRG upset from last year are back in the fold this season. Included in the jamming rotation will be veterans Christy Johnson, Andrea Thompson, Beth Kempf and Anna Cassube. Blocking with be paced by Andrea Tarnick, LaDonna Craig and many others.
“Their jammers are big and like to push up the track,” said Brickyard of the Mad Maxines. “We will have to work on maintaining strong walls and holding them back as long as possible.”
“They’re a great team that we are excited to play,” added Slayer. “Early in the season, every team is a little unknown and we are looking forward to seeing what they are going to bring. We expect this to be a competitive game that should be fun to watch.”
The complexion of the St. Louis line-up is different to the team that competed at Lincoln in 2013. Almost half of ARRG’s roster consists of players not involved at last year’s tussle. The fresh faces involved look at this match-up with little regard to history.
“I think we have avoided dwelling on the past since our team is so new,” said Brickyard. “We’re a totally different team, so anything we did last year wasn’t really ‘us.’ Our goal against No Coast is to win, because we know we can, not because of last season.”
At first glance, Arch Rival’s 14-0 record at Midwest Sport Hockey does give the team a bit of an advantage.
“The team is aware of our record at home, but we consider this winning streak a true mystery,” said Slayer. “We don’t practice at Queeny Park and there is nothing special about it, but I think having great fans to support (us) at home is an intangible benefit that we have at Queeny.”
But the question does have to be asked. Will Arch Rival be inspired on Saturday by what transpired thirteen months ago?
“Absolutely,” said Slayer. “No Coast was one of the few games we lost in 2013 and we want to make this game a win at home.”
The A-team match-up will be followed by a B-team contest featuring Arch Rival’s Saint Lunachix (1-2) battling No Coast’s Road Warriors (1-2).
The Lunachix snatched its first victory of the season three weekends ago with a 238-109 win over Cincinnati’s Violent Lambs. Chix jammer Sleazy E paced the victors with 76 points and will be “donning the star” on the helmet alongside Molecular Mayhem, AKA Rogue and EnYa Nightmare.
Up front for blocking will be Chix co-captains Vendetta Vango and The Ginger Assassin alongside Party RockHer, Shear-Ra Powers, Jamheiser Bush, Nikki Trixx, Morgan LeFaetal and a host of others.
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, which includes a link to discounted online tickets, go to archrivalrollergirls.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.
