Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
(SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH) The Arch Rival Roller Girls ended the Salt Lake City round of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) post-season tournament in sixth place following a 205-142 loss to Montreal Sunday afternoon.
Despite the 63-point setback in the 10-team tourney’s fifth place game, the weekend was extremely productive for the local rollers. Entering the three-day swing seeded seventh, St. Louis finished the playoff round 2-2 and one position higher numerically than when it entered.
Arch Rival raced out to a quick start. After jammer Mighty Mighty Boston posted a pair of points in the opening rotation, Brickyard notched a 21-4 non-lead power jam to push the score to 23-4. Back-to-back four-pointers from Annie Swanson and Chokehold Chanel extended the advantage to 31-7 with 23:25 left in the half.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
St. Louis’ lead blossomed to 48-19 after Swanson’s 13-8 power jam at the 20:00 mark.
However, the offense sputtered and Montreal’s New Skids on the Block took advantage of St. Louis’ skid on the flat track. Launched by Miracle Whips’ 20-point power strike in jam 8, the Canadians went on a 34-0 rally that covered nine minutes.
When the dust had settled on the streak, Montreal possessed a 65-48 lead with 11:00 left in the period.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Arch Rival got back in the groove and went on a 12-2 run over the next four rotations and whittled the deficit to seven points, 67-60, with 7:00 left in the half.
St. Louis regained the lead in jam 19. A 16-2 power jam, anchored by Brickyard, flipped the scoreboard to Arch Rival’s favor, 76-69, with 5:10 left in the period.
The single-digit differential was brief as Whips and Montreal scored a 22-5 power jam on the next rotation and regained the lead, 91-81, with 3:30 left.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Les New Skids pushed the score to 104-86 to conclude the first half.
Arch Rival attempted to whittle away at the deficit in the opening stages of the second period, but Montreal held St. Louis to minimal points in frame’s first ten minutes and extended its lead to 143-99.
Arch Rival’s uphill climb against the tourney’s fifth seed was thwarted as the period progressed. Montreal netted lead jammer status in nine of the next ten jams and following The Honey Badger’s 18-8 power jam with 11:20 left, Montreal pushed its lead to 183-118.
Montreal outscored St. Louis almost two-fold, 101-56, in the second period to pick up the 205-142 victory and finish the tourney fifth.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Arch Rival, who concludes the 2014 travel team campaign with an 8-8 record and ranked #27 internationally by the WFTDA, was paced by Brickyard’s 64 points. The jammer finished the tourney with 229 total points in four games.
St. Louis’ first women’s flat-track roller derby franchise now prepares for its local campaign, which begins November 8 at Midwest Sport Hockey in Ballwin.
