(MADISON, WI) What does a team need to do to show its brilliance in the opening day of a competitive roller derby tournament?
Score 142 points uncontested, for starters!
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The primary travel team of St. Louis-based Arch Rival Roller Derby utilized a high-octane offense, a stubborn defense and the aforementioned rally to notch a 314-75 victory over Madison in Friday’s quarterfinal round of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) Division 1 playoffs held at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
ARCH, 10-0 and second seeded in the ten team tourney, advances to Saturday’s semifinal to face third-seeded Minnesota (7-4) in a 8 p.m. match-up. The top three finalists from the weekend will earn bids to the WFTDA International Championships held in November.
Arch Rival, currently ranked #8 internationally, started quickly as a game-opening four-pointer by Bricktator was followed by a 15-point strike from Annie Swanson to give St. Louis a 19-0 lead three minutes in. Then after a scoreless jam, Bricktator tacked another four-pointer that pushed the score to 23-0 at the 25:15 mark.
Madison, seeded tenth this weekend, gained lead jammer status in jam 5, but MRD’s Blanche Devereauxxx soon cut the track, leading to Arch Rival’s first power jam of the night. Swanson’s 19-8 rotation collected at the 22:30 mark pushed ARCH’s lead to 42-8.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Louis’ Harmony Killerbruise gained lead in jam 6 and the stubborn ARCH defense of Shimmy Hoffa, Jamheiser Bush, Salty, and Shear-Ra Powers caused the Madison jammer to commit another infraction, resulting in another power jam that resulted in an Arch Rival 10-0 post and push the lead to 52-13 with 20:05 left in the period.
Bricktator’s 14-0 post at the 17:30 mark widened the Arch advantage to 66-13 at the 17:30 mark.
As the period progressed, Arch Rival blockers Chewblocka and Kayla Woodward, alongside Bush and Salty, helped Killerbuise notch a 19-0 strike in jam 10 that widened the score to 88-13 midway through the frame. CupQuake’s four-pointer with 12:40 pushed the ARCH lead to 92-13.
ARCH exploded for a 30-0 smash as Smarty McFly, Party Foul, Woodward and Hoffa helped Bricktator push the lead to 142-23 with 5:25 left in the half.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Louis led at halftime, 161-43, following Woodward’s 14-5 period-ending rotation.
To their credit, Madison started the second period with a 29-3 run that cut Arch Rival’s lead to 165-72 eight minutes deep.
St. Louis stopped the drought, and launched a rally of 142-points scored uncontested, in jam 8 as Swanson’s 13-0 strike pushed the score to 178-72 and Killerbruise followed on the next rotation with a 20-point jam that extended ARCH’s lead to 198-72 with 17:45 left in the game.
Arch Rival broke the bi-centennial barrier after CupQuake’s 14-pointer, aided by Krista Grant, made the score 212-72 midway through the frame. Two jams later, Swanson’s 25-point rotation pushed ARCH’s advantage to 237-72 with 12:30 remaining. Killerbruise added four in jam 14 and CupQuake posted five on a power jam with 9:05 to make the score 246-72.
Bricktator’s 24-point power jam continued the onslaught, resulting in a 270-72 score with 7:20 remaining and Swanson added a trey in jam 16 to push the score to 273-72.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Killerbruise’s 25-point power jam with 3:30 left made ARCH’s lead blossom to 298-72. Arch Rival finished the triple-digit scoring streak in the penultimate jam when the score was 307-72.
ARCH outscored Madison in the second period, 153-32, en route to the 314-75 quarterfinal win and advancement to Saturday’s semifinals.
Saturday’s game can be heard online live at wftda.tv.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ARCH RIVAL ROLLER GIRLS (314): Bricktator 93, Harmony Killerbruise 83, Annie Swanson 82, CuqQuake 38, Kayla Woodward 18.
Arch City Sports will have a recap of Saturday’s game posted on Sunday morning.
