(ST. PETERS, MO) Participating in an extremely competitive eight-team, flat-track roller derby invitational this weekend, the St. Chux Derby Chix Pack in Black finished its hosted “Skate to Thrill” with a three-game record of 1-2.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The two-day event, held at Matteson Square Garden, featured a dozen games sanctioned by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and the ensuing results affected the octet of leagues that aimed to either maintain or increase its international calculated rankings.
SCDC, ranked #56 globally by the WFTDA, scored a rankings’ upset Saturday with its 199-136 topper over #42 Chicago Outfit but found itself on the other side of the ledger with a Saturday night setback to #64 Calgary (179-103) along with Sunday’s loss to #60 Ann Arbor (241-120.)
Although the end result wasn’t what SCDC had hoped for, the pair of setbacks was against lower-ranked scrappy squads displaying upward trajectory in the WFTDA Division 2 rankings. However without question, the St. Chux highlight of the weekend was the 63-point victory over the league positioned fourteen spots above in the hierarchy.
#56 ST. CHUX 199 #42 CHICAGO OUTFIT 136
In its first WFTDA-sanctioned game of the season Saturday morning, the hostesses sprinted out to an early lead to set the tone and capitalized on a 46-0 rally midway through the second period en route to the rankings’ upset.
Jedi Knight-N-Gale’s 22-point, game-opening power jam launched a strong ten minute stretch as the Pack In Black pushed the lead to 38-8 following Darth Maully’s grand slam scored at the 21:05 mark.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Undaunted, the Syndicate chipped away at the deficit and eventually narrowed the score to 50-45 with Pain Gwen’s 19-point strike with 14:30 left in the half.
Both teams traded power jams and points as the period progressed. Knight-N-Gale collected nine via that method with 7:45 left in the period to push SCDC’s lead to 78-65.
Chicago Outfit proceeded with a 21-10 run over the next three jams and whittled the margin to two points, 88-86, after Lola Blow’s 16-8 rotation with 2:05 remaining.
After Knight-N-Gale collected four with one minute left to widen the gap, both teams traded solo-point jams in the final two rotations and St. Chux clung onto a 93-87 intermission lead.
Chicago Outfit flipped the scoreboard early in the second period with a 9-0 run and grabbed its first lead of the game, 96-93, after Blow posted four in jam 2.
Feeling the heat, St. Chux went back on the attack and churned a 32-0 rally over the next eight minutes. Assisted by Pixie Dust-Ruction’s grand slam and punctuated by Knight-N-Gale’s 19-point power jam with 19:45 left, SCDC possessed a 125-96 lead.
As impressive as that stretch run was, the Pack In Black still had more in store. Leading 137-111 heading into jam 10, the SCDC blocking schema of Tara Eyes, Whip L’Ash, 50 Shades of Pink, Blue Collar Brawler, Zo D. Axe, Zombie F-Bomb, Conner, Big Red and others knuckled down defensively and perpetually drew track cuts on Outfit jammers, resulting in a six-jam, 46-0 run that blew the contest wide open.
In the process, Knight-N-Gale got three power starts that resulted in 41 collective points as SCDC’s lead blossomed to 183-111 with 9:20 left.
St. Chux outscored the Outfit in the second period, 106-49, to notch the 63-point victory and claim its first sanctioned triumph of the season. Knight-N-Gale finished the game with 125 points.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX (199): Jedi Knight-N-Gale 125, Tara Eyes 26, Pixie Dust-Ruction 24, Darth Maully 16, Sha’Killa 8.
#64 CALGARY 179 #56 ST. CHUX 103
Conversely, Saturday’s night cap went in the opposite trajectory, SCDC had to dig from an early hole against the Albertans and trailed 39-10 ten minutes in after Calgary’s Kris MyAss collected a 13-point power jam.
St. Chux countered in the next rotation as a pair of Canadian jammer penalties resulted in a 20-4 strike by Knight-N-Gale that sliced the score to 43-30 at the 17:35 mark. Maully added 10 in jam 10 and Sha’Killa collected a pair of points to narrow the contest to a single-digit affair 43-42.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Knight-N-Gale posted a grand slam on the next rotation to give St. Chux in its first lead of the game, 47-43 with 14:15 left in the period.
Calgary regained the lead, and then some, with a 22-0 run over the next six jams and held a 65-47 advantage with 7:30 left in the half.
St. Chux got back on the scoreboard with 6:24 left as Knight-N-Gale grabbed five that sliced Calgary’s lead to 65-52 but CRDA started another scoring run deep in the period and, with its 19-0 stretch over five jams, widened its advantage to 84-52.
The Canadians led at intermission, 87-54, and the momentum carried over into the second period as back-to-back eight-pointers from Easy Break Oven and Jenni Gunns pushed the score to 103-54 two jams in.
St. Chux was never able to make a significant scoring charge for the remainder of the game and Calgary capitalized on Pack In Black penalties that widened the ensuing differential. The Canadians outscored SCDC, 92-49, in the second half and coasted to the 179-103 win that resulted in St. Chux’s Saturday split. Knight-N-Gale topped SCDC scoring with 70 points.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX (103): Jedi Knight-N-Gale 70, Darth Maully 15, Pixie Dust-Ruction 9, Sha’Killa 9.
#60 ANN ARBOR 242 #56 ST. CHUX 120
Now at 1-1 entering its final game at the invitational Sunday afternoon, the Pack in Black were in a tough position as the Ann Arbor Derby Dimes, who had already recorded a pair of Saturday wins, eyed a “Skate To Thrill” sweep.
St. Chux grabbed a 7-0 edge after two jams with strikes of five and two from Knight-N-Gale and Dust-Ruction, respectively. Ann Arbor flipped the scoreboard to its favor with 25:15 left with Lezzie Arnaz’s 17-point power jam and Slamuel L. Jackson followed with a four-pointer to give A2D2 a 21-7 lead.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Chux reversed the momentum and snagged a 25-21 lead change with Knight-N-Gale’s 18-point, even-strength strike at the 22:20 mark.
Ann Arbor responded with a 33-0 rally over the next two jams as Bex posted 24 in jam 6 and Arnaz followed with nine with 19:25 left in the frame and A2D2 possessed a 54-25 advantage.
SCDC quickly erased the deficit with its 32-6 sprint over the next two rotations. A star-pass to pivot Whip L’Ash resulted in a 13-6 result with 16:40 left and Knight-N-Gale’s 19-pointer in jam 9 whittled Ann Arbor’s lead to three-points, 60-57.
A key component to A2D2’s success during the weekend was the solid blocking that allowed big scoring surges while keeping opponents at bay. This was put into full effect in the second half of the first half as the Brawlstars proceeded to churn a 46-10 stretch over the next six jams.
Highlighted by Arnaz’s 15 pointer with 11:35 left and Fracture Mechanics’ 14-point strike two jams later, Ann Arbor widened its lead to 106-67 with 5:00 in the half.
St. Chux managed to keep the differential similar at the end of the period and trailed at halftime, 112-79.
Unfortunately for the hostesses, little was gained in the opening stages of the second period, and with Ann Arbor’s 20-0 sprint in the first two jams, the chance of a St. Chux comeback was quickly getting out of reach.
Ann Arbor held a 140-88 lead with twenty minutes left following Bex’s eight-point power jam and the score blossomed to 164-88 four jams later, which secured victory.
A2D2 outscored SCDC in the second period, 130-41, en route to the 242-120 win and a three-game “Skate to Thrill” sweep that included a pair of rankings upsets.
SCDC, who finished the invitational 1-2, was paced by Knight-N-Gale’s 84 points.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX (120): Jedi Knight-N-Gale 84, Darth Maully 22,Whip L’Ash 13, Pixie Dust-Ruction 11, 50 Shades 0f Pink 9.
St. Chux returns to WFTDA-sanctioned action later this month at the K-Town Shakedown in Kalamazoo, Michigan, April 29-May 1, where the Pack in Black’s invitational docket consists of games against #59 Brewcity, #63 Grand Raggidy and #81 Killamazoo.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
For the weekend at Skate to Thrill, alongside the aforementioned Ann Arbor, #25 No Coast, the highest-ranked league competing at the event, collected a three-game sweep with victories over #41 Ohio (261-125), Chicago Outfit (266-115) and #44 Houston (215-186).
Both Ohio and #51 Wasatch concluded the weekend 2-1, Calgary finished 1-2 and both Chicago Outfit and Houston finished 0-3.
SKATE TO THRILL RESULTS
SATURDAY
#51 Wasatch 195 #44 Houston 177
#25 No Coast 261 #41 Ohio 125
#56 ST. CHUX 199 #42 Chicago Outfit 136
#60 Ann Arbor 200 #64 Calgary 149
#41 Ohio 222 #44 Houston 221
#60 Ann Arbor 182 #51 Wasatch 121
#64 Calgary 179 #56 ST. CHUX 103
SUNDAY
#25 No Coast 266 #42 Chicago Outfit 115
#51 Wasatch 215 #64 Calgary 147
#60 Ann Arbor 242 #56 ST. CHUX 120
#25 No Coast 215 #44 Houston 186
#41 Ohio 287 #42 Chicago Outfit 105
Team MVPs, as voted upon by those in attendance, were awarded to a skater from each of the squads.
ANN ARBOR – Michelle O’ Bomb Ya
CALGARY – Kris Myass
CHICAGO OUTFIT – Lola Blow
HOUSTON – Slayer Moon
NO COAST – Storm
OHIO – The Smacktivist
ST. CHUX – Whip L’ash
WASATCH – Wreckless
For more information on the St. Chux Derby Chix, go to stchuxderbychix.com.
