(ST. CHARLES, MO) The 2022 goal for the St. Chux Derby Chix was to simply get back into playing the sport they love after a lengthy hiatus.
A benchmark for flat-track roller derby victories wasn’t necessarily a target but Saturday they churned a win at their home opener and kept their record spotless.
SCDC’s Pack in Black improved to 2-0 on the season following their 177-122 triumph over Cape Girardeau Roller Derby at Steel Shop Athletics & Events.
Photo Credit: Brian Ledford
“Our team has been working so hard and it’s been a very emotional roller coaster but they have really impressed me and I’m just really amazed,” said SCDC captain Tara Eyes after the win.
After being dormant for two years due to the pandemic, St. Chux resumed competitive play in July.
“For morale, just to get back in again, just to playing games and getting back into derby again, it was just so refreshing,” said SCDC jammer STAG. “Just so nice to get back on skates.”
At their only home game played this summer, the host quickly built a sizable lead.
Following STAG’s eight-point, game-opening power jam, SCDC recorded five straight lead jams resulting a 31-0 lead after STAG posted another eight five minutes in.
“Normally we tend to have our nerves in the first few jams, but to score that high really helped us to get rid of those nerves quickly,” said Eyes.
Cape Girardeau posted fourteen straight over the next four jams and sliced the differential to 31-14 with 18:45 left in the half.
SCDC surged with a 23-0 scoring sprint in the next four minutes. Back-to-back eight-pointers from Rocky Who and STAG pushed the score to 54-14 at the 13:30 mark.
As Cape attempted to rebound, they were never able to effectively slice into the differential thanks to the Pack In Black’s blocking schema, paced by Eyes, Al B. Hatin, Shakilla, Iron Megan, Sailor Goon, Poison Ivy, Slay Anything and Cyborg.
The differential remained at 40 points following Trekkie Monster’s four-point pass with 7:10 left that pushed the score 65-25.
The song stayed the same following Rusty Nails’ 8-4 jam with 4:37 left in the half that resulted in SCDC’s 73-33 lead.
Down the stretch, SCDC notched 14 points uncontested and possessed an 87-33 lead at intermission. A key component of that advantage was the stellar play by the newcomers.
“I feel that we’ve lucked out with a lot of our newbies already knowing how to skate,” said STAG. “They were already comfortable on wheels, which was like awesome for our team and they jumped in quickly.”
The momentum carried over into the second period as St. Chux churned a three-jam, 22-3 rally that extended the lead to 109-36 after Trekkie Monster collected eight points in Jam 3.
As the game continued, the Pack in Black kept fielding a four-jammer rotation consisting of STAG, Trekkie, Rocky Who and LaDi Dadi with Bomber Betty and CC Devillian supplementing.
DaDi’s four-point jam midway through the second half helped SCDC maintain a 129-60 lead.
Cape Girardeau, who was competing in their first game since 2019, did find a spark in the back frame as jammer Hyper Light Happy collected 16 points with 15 minutes left and whittled the score to 129-76.
SCDC made their most impressive stance afterwards with a four-jam, 20-0 run, finished by Rocky Who’s four-point pass that pushed the score to 149-76 with 10:15 remaining.
Scoring was even in the second period with SCDC edging Cape 90-89, but the first half dominance by the locals resulted in the comfortable 177-122 victory. STAG topped scoring with 61 points.
The team travels to Convington, Kentucky next Saturday to take on the Black-N-Bluegrass Roller Girls in quest of keeping the season perfect.
“I think SCDC is durable,” said Eyes. “They have highs and lows but they make through it and make it happen.”
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX (177): STAG 61, Trekkie Monster 31, Rusty Nails 26, Rocky Who 23, LaDi DaDi 22, Bomber Betty 7, CC DeVillian 7.
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.
