(BALLWIN, MO) The primary travel squad of GateKeepers Roller Derby, currently ranked second internationally by the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA), made a solid statement in protecting its placement following a trio of victories at “River City Warmup,” held this past weekend at Midwest Sport Hockey.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
With the trifecta over #6 Texas, #7 Bridgetown and #14 Twin Cities, St. Louis pushed its current undefeated streak to five games and 10-1 overall.
Plenty of intrigue was found heading into Saturday night’s marquee match-up against Texas as both squads had split the two games held against each other earlier in the year. As projected, both teams traded leads throughout the first period and the Texans held a 79-78 advantage at intermission.
Both leagues continued the same trend in the second half until the GateKeepers utilized a 35-0 surge that propelled an eye-opening barrage of points. A stifling defense also anchored the final period as St. Louis outscored Texas, 136-23, to post the 214-102 victory.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Earlier in the day, St. Louis launched the two-day event with a 466-33 crushing of Minnesota-based Twin Cities. Leading 222-15 at intermission, the GateKeepers’ 96-10 launch in the first eleven minutes of the second period propelled the 433-point victory.
Sunday’s meeting with Portland, Oregon’s Bridgetown put the capper on the Gateway City’s successful weekend following the 255-63 topper over the Menace. Leading 113-27 at halftime, St. Louis’ blue-collar defense paced a 142-36 second period en route to the team’s tenth victory of the season.
The GateKeepers now await the governing bodies’ next set of rankings, which are projected to be revealed the first week of September, in order to find out where it will be seeded for the 2015 MRDA Championships, “River City Rumble,” held at Midwest Sport Hockey in October.
Also on Saturday, the league’s developmental team, the STL B-Keepers, netted a 368-52 exhibition victory over the New Orleans Brass. Leading 150-37 at intermission, the quad-wearing apiculturists outscored the Crescent City, 218-15, to maintain its undefeated season (7-0).
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
In other action during the weekend, Texas finished the Warmup 2-1 with victories over Bridgetown (212-115) and Twin Cities (356-82) to improve to 9-2 overall while Bridgetown’s 285-54 win over Twin Cities Sunday resulted in the team’s fourth duke of the season.
Springfield (IL)-based rollers Capital City Hooligans, ranked #29 in the MRDA, visited Sunday and claimed a 229-106 victory over New Orleans to improve to 3-4.
RIVER CITY WARMUP RESULTS
SATURDAY
STL GATEKEEPERS 466 TWIN CITIES 33
TEXAS 212 BRIDGETOWN 115
STL B-KEEPERS 368 NEW ORLEANS 52
STL GATEKEEPERS 214 TEXAS 102
SUNDAY
BRIDGETOWN 285 TWIN CITIES 54
CAPITAL CITY 229 NEW ORLEANS 106
TEXAS 356 TWIN CITIES 82
STL GATEKEEPERS 255 BRIDGETOWN 63
For more information on GateKeepers Roller Derby, go to stlgatekeepers.com.
(Story constructed via field reporting by Gil Tiemann).
