(FT. WAYNE, IN) Utilizing an effective combination of high-octane scoring and punishing blocking, the St. Louis GateKeepers swept all three of its respective bouts at Spring Roll 2014 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum this weekend. The trifecta notched in Ft. Wayne improved St. Louis’ record in the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA) to 4-0.
A new historical benchmark was achieved in Saturday’s 419-12 victory over the Mont Royals (Montreal, QC, Canada) and the momentum carried over to Sunday wins against Magic City (289-101) and Southern Discomfort (279-66).
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Louis’ dominance displayed at Spring Roll was eye-opening, collectively outscoring its opponents 987-179.
In the Saturday bout against the Mont Royals, the GateKeepers raced out to a 68-0 lead ten minutes deep. Debaucherous Prime’s 32-pointer highlighted the early sprint.
After the Mont Royals broke the shutout at 17:10 to make the score 83-11, St. Louis posted 77 points uncontested. Magnum P.I.M.P.’s 17-point power jam with 4:10 left put the exclamation point on the run and the GateKeepers widened its lead to 160-11.
After Prime notched a 4-1 strike on the period’s penultimate jam, Shane Bower posted 25 on the final rotation, which gave St. Louis a 189-12 advantage at intermission.
Strange as this may sound, the GateKeepers actually performed better in the second half. A 230-0 shutout of the Mont Royals in the final frame left spectators overwhelmed.
St. Louis eclipsed the 300-point barrier after Prime collected 20 with 15:30 left to make the score 302-12.
The GateKeeper blocking battalion, paced by Percy Controll (who received Most Valuable Blocker honors for the bout), Neal Death Experience, Spin Diesel, Kyle Stark, Bled Zeppelin, Double Excel, Inquadable Hulk and a host of others, surrendered zero points to the Mont Royals in the second period and propelled the 419-12 victory.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The 407-point winning differential set a new benchmark in the GateKeeper record books.
P.I.M.P. topped St. Louis scoring with 131 points while Prime, who was named Most Valuable Jammer of the bout, finished with 129 points. Screecharound and Bower added 90 and 71, respectively.
Sunday morning’s battle against Magic City (Jacksonville,FL) was tighter by comparison. Four jams deep, St. Louis possessed a 46-27 lead.
The GateKeepers then engineered a 46-0 rally over the next ten minutes. Launched by Magnum’s 10-point power jam scored at 21:30, both Prime and Bower followed with respective eight-pointers, which pushed the score to 72-27. Once the rally concluded, St. Louis sported a 92-27 lead.
Magnum’s 20-point strike with 5:00 left in the first period, pushed St. Louis’ lead to triple-digits, 117-32.
Handrail, new into the Spring Roll jamming rotation on Sunday, posted nine in the period’s final jam and the GateKeepers went into the halftime break up 144-44.
The dominance carried over into the second period as St. Louis scored 38 points out of the gates. Punctuated by Bower’s 12-point power jam at 25:50, the locals extended its lead to 182-44. Aided by his “brothers in blocking,” Bower collected power jams of 15 and 16 points as the period progressed.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
With the differential widening, the GateKeepers’ kept the foot on the gas pedal. Gnat King Kill scored 29 points in his lone trip as a jammer to push the lead to 276-98 with 2:46 left.
The St. Louis’ blocking contingent held Magic City to minimal points down the stretch as the GateKeepers outscored the Floridians in the second period, 145-57, to pick up the 289-101 victory.
Bower finished with 81 points and received Most Valuable Jammer honors for the contest. Magnum and Prime contributed 66 apiece while Hand Rail added 44.
Sunday’s Spring Roll finale against Southern Discomfort (London, UK) marked the inaugural meeting between the two travel teams.
Up 7-2 two jams in, Bower netted St. Louis’ first power jam of the bout, collected 17 points and pushed the GateKeepers’ lead to 24-2 with 27:15 left in the period.
Like clockwork this weekend, another huge rally by the locals marked the first half. A 47-0 run widened the differential. Screecharound’s 10-spot concluded the rally, which extended the lead to 69-11 with 15:30 left.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
A pair of power jams late in the period resulted in a GateKeepers’ triple-digit margin at intermission. Accented by Prime’s 17 scored with 5:50 left and Magnum’s 20 to conclude the period, St. Louis held a 153-43 lead at the half.
Following a pair of scoreless jams to start the second, Magnum collected nine to push the lead to 162-43.
Bower’s 27-point power jam two rotations later pushed the score to 189-43 with 23:30 left.
The GateKeepers broke the 200-point mark on the next cycle as Gnat King Kill scored 24, resulting in a 213-43 lead.
Meanwhile, the pattern of consistent St. Louis defense continued as the front walls, which included the aforementioned crew alongside Wrecking Bill, Monster Jam and the Saint, kept European scoring silent for the period’s first ten minutes, which helped St. Louis accumulate a 68-0 run and a 221-43 lead with 19:30 left.
The GateKeepers outscored Southern Discomfort, 123-23, in the second period to notch the 279-66 win that completed the Spring Roll sweep and kept its spotless MRDA record intact.
Magnum paced the locals with 75 points, followed by Bower (who picked up Most Valuable Jammer honors for the bout) with 59.
Spring Roll, a three-day invitational of men’s and women’s roller derby, showcased 11 international teams from the MRDA competing in 17 bouts. Many of the squads featured at the fifth annual event were jockeying for position within the MRDA hierarchy, which currently sees St. Louis ranked third internationally.
The top eight teams listed in the governing body’s September rankings release will compete in the 2014 MRDA Championships, held in mid-October in Seattle, WA.
The GateKeepers’ next MRDA-sanctioned bout is scheduled for Saturday, June 28 at Midwest Sport Hockey in Ballwin, MO. As of press time, an opponent is still being determined. The double header event also features the league’s b-team, the St. Louis B-Keepers, versus the Chicago Bruise Brothers.
The league’s three-team local series, Turf Wars, continues Saturday, May 31 at Queeny Park as the Dogtown Rockets meet the South Grand Slammers.
For more information on the St. Louis GateKeepers, visit www.stlgatekeepers.com.
