(TACOMA, WA) The St. Louis GateKeepers advanced to the title bout of the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA) 2014 Championships Sunday afternoon with a 252-159 semifinal win over the New York Shock Exchange at the Tacoma Armory.
Photo Credit: Rumbledore
St. Louis, seeded second at the eight-team “Maritime Mayhem” bracketed tournament, faces top-seeded Your Mom Men’s Derby (Des Moines, IA), tonight at 5 PM Pacific (7 PM, St. Louis time) for the championship.
“We played a very offensive game,“ said GateKeepers’ jammer Debaucherous Prime following the 93-point win. “Our blockers were making lanes for us. As jammers, it makes it a lot easier for us to skate laps.”
Trailing 4-0 after the opening jam, the GateKeepers (12-0) went on a 42-5 run over the next four rotations. Prime’s nine-pointer flipped the scoreboard, 9-4, in St. Louis’ favor. Shane Bower followed with a 24-5 power jam with 24:10 left in the period to widen the margin to 33-9. Magnum P.I.M.P. ended the run with a nine-point rotation three minutes later to push the score to 42-9.
New York, the tourney’s third seed, narrowed the margin to 46-23 with 17:10 left in the half.
Photo Credit: Rumbledore
St. Louis responded with a 29-4 run that covered the next seven minutes. After P.I.M.P. scored 15 with 10:10 left in the period, the GateKeepers’ lead blossomed to 82-27.
St. Louis maintained the differential for the remainder of the period and held a 123-73 advantage at intermission.
The GateKeepers sprinted quickly to start the second period and netted lead jam in the first seven rotations, resulting in a 54-0 run.
Thanks to the aforementioned blocking of Percy Controll, Double Excel, Gnat King Kill, Bled Zeppelin, Wrecking Bill, Stark, The Saint, Spin Deisel, Bane-Ana (On Skates!) and Inquadable Hulk, the GateKeepers extended its lead to 177-73 with 21:05 left in the game.
St. Louis’ lead reached triple-digits as Prime scored 12 with 17:30 left that pushed the score to 193-85.
The GateKeepers outscored New York, 129-82, in the second period to pick up the Maritime Mayhem semifinal win and advance to the championship match-up later tonight.
P.I.M.P. paced GateKeepers scoring with 92 points, followed by Prime’s 54.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
ST. LOUIS GATEKEEPERS (252) Magnum P.I.M.P. 92, Debaucherous Prime 54, Shane Bower 42, Screecharound 33, Gnat King Kill 12, Bane-ana (On Skates!) 11, Stark 3.
Live, complimentary coverage of the MRDA Championships is available online at wftda.tv by going to THIS LINK.
