(TUCSON, AZ) Even with defeat Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) playoff round in Tucson, the Arch Rival Roller Girls All-Stars still have a chance to achieve their first ever berth to the WFTDA Championships in November.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
This comes on the heels of a 163-103 loss to B.ay A.rea D.erby at Tucson Convention Center. Arch Rival, seeded third in the ten-team bracketed tourney, plays in the bronze medal game against fourth-seeded Rocky Mountain Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. MST (6 p.m. Central). If St. Louis nets victory, it still advances to the WFTDA’s finale in St. Paul, Minnesota in two months.
Saturday’s task was tough against B.A.D., the playoff’s second seed and perennial championships entrant.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Arch Rival answered the challenge with effective, physical play in the first period and clawed out of an early deficit to flip the scoreboard to its favor.
Trailing 31-7 six jams in, St. Louis jammer Bricktator posted three at the 20:50 mark to whittle Bay Area’s differential to 21 points.
With blocking paced by Party Foul, Mayor Francis Slayer, Kayla Seiber, Shimmy Hoffa, Cloak N’ Drag-Her, Jamheiser Bush, Chewblocka, Emily Rinehart and Shear-Ra Powers, Arch Rival exploded for a three-jam, 36-4 rally that resulted in its first lead of the contest.
The charge began with Annie Swanson’s 15-4 power jam scored with 18:30 left in the period to slice Bay Area’s lead to 35-25. Brickyard notched seven on the next rotation to narrow the margin to three points, 35-32. Harmony Killerbruise finished the sprint with a 14-point power jam at 15:27 to flip the scoreboard, 46-35, in favor of Arch Rival.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
It would be the only lead St. Louis had for the contest as Bay Area’s Frightmare utilized a pair of power jams en route to 15 points and a 50-46 B.A.D. lead change with 10:50 left in the period. Lulu Lockjaw followed with eight on the next rotation to push the Californians lead to 58-46 with under ten minutes left in the half.
As Bay Area held a 63-49 advantage with 6:10 left in the period, Arch posted ten straight points. Back-to-back four-pointers from Brickyard and Bricktator were followed by a pair of points from Swanson, narrowing the score to 63-59.
This would be the closest that St. Louis would be as Bay Area notched an 18-0 rally to conclude the first half. Six points from Fluezy with 1:30 left was followed by three non-lead points from Lockjaw on the period’s penultimate jam. Fluezy finished the half with a nine-point strike and Bay Area possessed a 81-59 advantage at intermission.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The momentum carried into the opening stages of the second period as the Californians churned 31 straight points in the first three jams.
Lockjaw’s half-launching five-pointer was followed by Fluezy’s dozen in jam two to make the score 98-59. Frightmare’s 14-point power jam with 24:15 left in the game finished the 31-0 rally, which resulted in a cumulative 49-0 run for Bay Area, and the second seed extended the score to 112-59.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
As the period progressed, Arch Rival started to grab an edge in obtaining lead jammer status, but Bay Area’s defense would hold St. Louis to minimal points. That being said, Arch Rival would whittle away at the deficit.
Brickyard’s eight-pointer scored with 13:15 left narrowed the differential to 40 points, 123-83.
Bay Area stopped the surge with a 17-1 run off two rotations, punctuated by Huck Sinn’s 14-1 strike with 10:25 left that pushed B.A.D.’s lead to 140-84.
Bay Area outscored St. Louis, 82-44, in the second period to pick up the 163-103 semifinal victory, placement in Sunday’s gold medal game in Tucson and an automatic berth to November’s WFTDA Championships.
Arch Rival (14-2) scoring was paced by Killerbruise’s 35 followed by Brickyard’s 30.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
If there were St. Louis positives to take away from Saturday’s setback, it would be that team played cleaner than its higher-ranked opponent. Arch Rival recorded eight less minutes (44) in penalties than Bay Area (52) and tied in the total number of lead jams obtained for the game (24-24). The semifinal appearance also guarantees that St. Louis can finish the playoff no worse that fourth, which also establishes a new post-season benchmark.
But to say that Sunday’s bronze medal game is the most important one in the league’s nine-year history is an understatement. A win extends St. Louis’ whirlwind season with its first-ever trip to the WFTDA finale.
They’ll know their fate in less than twenty-four hours.
Sunday’s game can be heard online for free at wftda.tv.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ARCH RIVAL ROLLER GIRLS (103): Harmony Killerbruise 35, Brickyard 30, Annie Swanson 22, Bricktator 16.
