(PORTLAND, OR) St. Louis-based Arch Rival Roller Derby concluded their Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) campaign with their highest finish ever in post-season play.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
At the WFTDA Global Championships held at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Arch Rival All-Stars claimed the silver medal Sunday night following their 141-104 setback to the Rose City Wheels of Justice in the event’s Hydra trophy game.
With their runner-up finish, ARCH concluded the weekend 2-1 and the season 11-1.
Meanwhile, Rose City claimed their fifth Hydra in six seasons, finished the season undefeated (12-0) and pushed their current winning streak to 36 sanctioned games.
With the trophy tilt a one-point nailbiter at intermission, the Wheels of Justice churned a 36-0 rally in the second period that aided in the 37-point victory.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The first period featured plenty of drama with three tied scores, four lead changes and plenty of stellar blocking from both sides.
Trailing 11-0 after the first four rotations, Arch Rival answered with 11 of their own over the next two jams and tied the score 11-11 following Swanson’s seven-pointer collected at the 21:20 mark.
After a scoreless rotation in Jam 7, Rose City’s Springroll notched an eight-pointer with 18:30 left in the period to give the Wheels of Justice an 19-11 edge.
ARCH co-captain Vicious Van GoGo’s eight-point strike in Jam 9 tied the score 19-19 and then the St. Louis rollers snared their first lead of the championship tussle with Loki Doki’s four-point jam with 15:45 remaining that resulted in a 23-19 lead change.
That lead was quickly dashed as Rose City’s Zip tied the score 23-23 with 14:25 left with a four-point pass.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
ARCH blockers Shear-Ra Powers, Bolt Action, Pegasass, Splatter, dad bod, Cruella, LuxFurious, K. Woodward and Eirinn Go Brawl perpetually gave the Wheels of Justice fits throughout the opening half and assisted with nine points scored in the next two jams.
During the process, co-captain Bricktator collected five in a power jam that broke the deadlock at the 13:00 mark and then Jedi Knight-N-Gale followed with a four-point pass that made the score 32-23 in favor of Arch Rival with 11:25 left in the period.
Rose City chipped away at the deficit and narrowed the game to 34-29 with 8:10 remaining after Bonnie Thunders’ four-point pass.
ARCH capitalized on their third power jam of the half after WoJ jammer Loren Mutch was whistled for a track cut, which allowed Bricktator to score four that pushed the lead to 38-29 with 6:25 left in the period.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
In the next two jams, Rose City grabbed a lead change with 18 points straight scored. Springroll’s 10-point power jam resulted in a 39-38 scoreboard flip for the defending champs and then Lil’ RegulateHer added eight in Jam 19 that extended the host league’s lead to 47-38 with 3:22 left.
In the period’s penultimate jam, Arch Rival’s Swanson barreled out a dozen points that resulted in another lead change, 50-47 with one minute to play.
Rose City’s Mutch grabbed lead in the final jam and notched a four-pointer, resulting in the half’s fourth lead change and a 51-50 scoreboard flip at intermission.
Whew! As well as things went for Arch Rival in the opening period, things turned out even better for the Wheels of Justice in the opening stages of the second.
After ARCH tied the score 51-51 with Bricktator’s solo point collected in the opening jam, Rose City’s Thunders and Springroll scored back-to-back eight pointers and their collective held a 67-51 advantage at the 26:40 mark.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Loki Doki’s eight-point rotation in Jam 4 whittled the differential back to a solo digit but the Wheels of Justice countered with Mutch’s 14-4 jam that pushed the lead to 81-63 with 23:50 left.
Swanson added a solo point in the next rotation for ARCH, who trailed 81-64.
As the period continued, Rose City’s veteran collective of blockers, paced by OMG WTF, Stan, Tenacity, Gal, Beans, Mia Palau, Elicia Nesbit-Smith, Taranta, Simonis and Morgan Levy, effectively shut down ARCH’s offense by claiming five straight lead jams and recorded an impressive 36-0 stretch run.
Highlighted by Mutch’s dozen point power jam and accented with a pair of eight-pointers from Zip and Thunders, the Wheels of Justice widened their lead to 117-64 with 15:45 remaining.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
ARCH refused to wave the white flag and scored 17 points straight, finished by Bricktator’s 10-pointer that narrowed the score to 117-81 with ten minutes left.
This would be the closest ARCH would get to Rose City for the rest of the championship game. A four-jam, 18-0 late sprint from the Wheels of Justice secured the trophy as they held 141-92 advantage with two minutes left.
Although ARCH posted twelve points combined on the final too jams, the deficit – and gold medal – was too far out of reach.
Rose City outscored Arch Rival 90-54 in the second period to claim the 141-104 Hydra trophy win, their third straight and fifth overall. Mutch topped team scoring with 39 points followed by Springroll’s 37.
Loki Doki topped Arch Rival scoring with 36 points.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
ARCH chartered skaters also receiving silver medals this weekend included Pork T’Choup Slamwich, Hart, Sheesh, Birdsong and Slaythoven as well as bench coaches The Saint, Code Adam and Smarty McFly.
Arch Rival will resume travel team play next Spring with the ultimate goal of returning to championships and collecting the Hydra.
For more information on ARCH, go to their official website.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ARCH RIVAL (104): Loki Doki 36, Bricktator 24, Swanson 24, Vicious Van GoGo 16, Jedi Knight-N-Gale 4
ROSE CITY (141): Loren Mutch 39, Springroll 37, Bonnie Thunders 35, Zip 18, Lil’ RegulateHer 12
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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 Litehouse 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. Finally, he prefers Diet Ski over coffee.
