(PORTLAND, OR) St. Louis-based Arch Rival Roller Derby defeated Denver Roller Derby 177-165 in Friday action at the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) 2016 International Championships held at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
In its second straight appearance at the annual twelve-team global tournament, ARCH (12-1 and ranked eighth by the WFTDA) recorded its first-ever win and now advances to face London Rollergirls Saturday at 10 am Pacific (Noon St. Louis time).
Trailing 6-4 after two jams, St. Louis produced a 23-0 run to grab an early edge. Following Harmony Killerbruise’s four-point strike in jam three, resulting in a 8-6 scoreboard flip, Bricktator posted 19 points with 23:00 left in the first period that pushed the score to 27-6.
Denver (7-9) responded with 14 points straight over the next six minutes and proceeded to narrow the deficit to single-digits. Following Klein’s six-pointer scored with 16:50 left in the half, the Mile High Club sliced Arch Rival’s lead to 27-20.
St. Louis went back on the offensive attack as the period progressed. Paced by solid blocking from Kayla Woodward, Shimmy Hoffa, Smarty McFly and Party Foul, jammer Annie Swanson collected an eight-pointer with 14:10 left that widened the score to 35-20.
After Denver notched a solo point in jam 12, the same Arch Rival blocking quartet helped Bricktator post 15 points with 12:30 left in the period as St. Louis’ lead blossomed to 50-21.
As the period progressed, Denver chipped away at the differential and trailed by a dozen points, 65-53, heading into the half’s penultimate jam.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Louis then grabbed an advantage with a non-lead power jam and with assistance from blockers Shear-Ra Powers, Salty, Jamheiser Bush and Chewblocka, Bricktator collected an 18-6 momentum shifter that pushed the score to 83-59.
Arch Rival maintained an 83-64 lead at intermission and, with a 22-5 run in the second period’s first eight minutes, extended the advantage to 105-69.
Another non-lead power jam for Arch Rival resulted in a 19-4 rotation by Bricktator that pushed the score to 124-73 with 20:10 left.
St. Louis’ 51-point lead seemed somewhat comfortable at the time, but Denver, currently ranked seventh internationally, had other intentions in mind. Over the next fourteen minutes, Denver outscored Arch Rival 65-37 and trailed 161-138 with 6:20 remaining.
Then in the ensuing jam, the Mile High Club’s Stacie Wilhelm churned an 18-point power strike and Denver narrowed the game to a single-digit affair, 161-156, with 4:05 left.
Clinging onto its slim lead, St. Louis posted a 15-0 run over the next two rotations as Swanson scored ten with 2:05 left and Bricktator added five on the game’s penultimate jam that extended Arch Rival’s lead to 176-156 with 1:05 left.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
On the game’s final jam, Denver’s Klein posted a 9-1 rotation but the differential was too wide for a Coloradoan late-game comeback.
Arch Rival collected the 177-165 win to pick up its first-ever win at the WFTDA Championships level. Bricktator topped the scoring ledger with 99 points.
Saturday’s meeting with London, currently ranked fifth internationally, will be the first time St. Louis has faced the United Kingdom entrant. The game can be seen live on wftda.tv.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ARCH RIVAL ROLLER DERBY (177): Bricktator 99, Annie Swanson 35, Harmony Killerbruise 16, Kayla Woodward 16, Bolt Action 11.
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.
