(BALLWIN, MO) A four-year streak was sustained for the primary travel squad of the Arch Rival Roller Girls Saturday night at Midwest Sport Hockey.
Arch Rival, currently ranked #21 internationally by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), bested #33 Madison, 171-142, and kept its home ledger unblemished at 14-0. The team has not lost a WFTDA-sanctioned home bout since moving to the West County facility four years ago.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
However, victory did not come easy as ARRG trailed the Dairyland Dolls midway through the second period and utilized a late-bout gamble en route to the 29-point win that improved the team’s record to 1-1.
“I really love last minute heroics,” said Arch Rival jammer IDA the Living Dead afterwards. “Tonight, we struggled a little bit. We had to tighten it up in the second half, but we pulled it off when it mattered the most.”
Leading 10-4 after three jams, ARRG posted a 22-0 run over the next five minutes. Punctuated by IDA’s eight-point jam at 22:05, Arch Rival widened its lead to 32-4.
Madison chipped away at the deficit as the period progressed by consistently points while keeping ARRG scoring in check. With 10:00 left in the period, Madison narrowed Arch Rival’s margin to 43-29.
Then in jam 19, a track cut called on MRD’s Ladie Who-Ha handed St. Louis a power jam. Brickyard and her blocking sistren posted 14 points in the rotation, which widened Arch Rival’s lead to 57-29.
ARRG maintained the differential for the remainder of the period and led 73-44 at intermission.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
All seemed steady for the locals…until the Dairyland Dolls decided to put the milk wagon into high gear.
Madison started the first half of the final period with a 58-20 surge that inevitably flipped the scoreboard. Down 93-71 with 21:30 left, an 18-point power jam from MRD’s Mouse cut the once-comfortable ARRG lead to 93-89. Magic Missile followed with a baker’s dozen on the next rotation that resulted in a 102-93 lead change in favor of the visitors.
Arch Rival responded with an 18-4 roll over the next four jams. Paced by a pair of nine-pointers from Brickyard and Mighty Mighty Boston, the hostesses regained the lead, 111-106, with 13:10 left in the bout.
The Dairyland Dolls’ Mouse scampered four points on the next rotation that made the contest a one-point squeaker, 111-110 in favor of Arch Rival with 12:00 remaining.
St. Louis spent the next eight minutes collectively flexing its proverbial muscles, which resulted in a 33-14 streak. Blockers Party Foul, Eli Wallop, Mayor Francis Slayer, Rhino-Might, Downtown Dallis, Girl Fawkes, Shear-Ra Powers, Tupac Shank-Her and Prof. Rumbledore held Madison at bay and helped Arch Rival widen its lead to 144-124 with 4:25 left.
MRD’s Missile countered with a six-point power jam on the next rotation and cut the gap to 144-130 with 2:34 remaining.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
In the bout’s penultimate jam, and with Madison looking to snap the home winning streak, ARRG’s Brickyard raced out in front and got lead. After her initial scoring pass of four points, Arch Rival elected to roll the dice and continue the jam. Some might have viewed this strategy as a bit of a gamble, for keeping the jam alive not only gave Madison a chance to post non-lead points, but it also kept the risk of an ARRG jammer penalty a possibility.
On the other hand, a strategy like this effectively burns up clock time. Arch Rival had to use cool, collective play in order to make the gamble work…and they did.
Brickyard made five more scoring passes en route to a 23-8 jam for ARRG, which stretched the margin to 167-138 and secured the victory.
Both squads tied in second period scoring, 98-98, but Arch Rival’s late-bout run resulted in the 171-142 win and kept the Queeny Park winning streak alive.
“I love how we really stayed calm on the bench with all the issues we were having,” said IDA, who finished the bout with 49 points. “Everybody had a really good attitude.”
Brickyard paced Arch Rival scoring with 86 points while Mouse led Madison (1-2) with 50.
Arch Rival takes a road trip this Saturday to the Buckeye State to face #44 Cincinnati (0-5) and puts its spotless home record on the line against #27 No Coast at Midwest Sport Hockey on May 10.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
ARCH RIVAL ALL-STARS (171): Brickyard 86, IDA the Living Dead 49, Might Mighty Boston 36
MADISON DAIRYLAND DOLLS (142): Mouse 50, Magic Missile 48, Ladie Who-Ha 37, Splatter Alice 7
In the b-team nightcap, the Mad Rollin’ Dolls B-team defeated ARRG’s Saint Lunachix 148-101. Sleazy E. paced the Saint Lunachix (0-2) with 42 points.
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, go to archrivalrollergirls.com.
