Aug 29, 2013 | Bout News
Bout Recap: Saint Louis Surprises All-Stars, 132-127
Thanks to Muckety Muck of Arch Rival for permission to publish his work. A more complete form can be found at the Arch Rival website.
Following a pair of lopsided losses at Rollercon 2013 the week prior, the St. Louisans rebounded with a 132-127 victory over Minnesota (WFTDA #17) Saturday at Midwest Sport Hockey in front of an audience of 450.
In the inaugural match-up between the former North Central sistren, key components from both squads were missing as MNRG jammer Juke Boxx and ARRG blocker Shimmy Hoffa were absent from their respective rosters due to prior commitments.
Following a bout-opening scoreless jam, Minnesota's L'exi Cuter notched a natural grand slam to give the visitors an early advantage. MEDUSA added a pair of points on the next rotation to give MNRG a 7-0 lead four minutes deep.
Arch Rival responded with seven straight. Mighty Mighty Boston's four-pointer in jam five was followed by a trey from South City Shiner that tied the score, 7-7, with 23:45 left in the period.
A scoreless jam was followed by a seven-point strike by MNRG's Fannie Tanner which gave her squad a 14-7 lead.
Arch Rival's Boston reciprocated with four on the next rotation to make the bout a three-point affair. Cuter answered back two jams later by notching a trey and extending Minnesota's lead to 17-11 with 18:25 left in the period.
Following another scoreless stalemate in jam #12, Arch Rival punched home a plethora of points as McFly gained lead and passed the star to pivot May Require Stitches. A 20-point jam ensued, resulting in a 31-17 Arch Rival lead change midway through the frame.
Arch Rival pushed the lead to 36-18, but MNRG's Medusa notched 10 at 13:10 to whittle the margin to 36-28. The Saint Louisans extended the lead to 43-31 after Boston's trey scored with 10:40 left in the half.
Minnesota then capitalized on a power jam as ARRG's Shiner was sent off for a track cut. Cuter scored a dozen in the fracas, which tied the score 43-43 with 8:45 left in the period, starting a rally for Minnesota as they proceeded with a 29-7 sprint during the first half's waning minutes. Tanner scored four in jam 20 to give the visitors a 47-43 lead. Killerbruise added nine on the next rotation.
A MNRG power jam posted with 3:00 left resulted in 15 points for Cuter, extending the lead to 71-43. Brickyard notched a 7-2 jam for Arch Rival that was stopped for a knee injury suffered by MNRG blocker Diamond Rough. Minnesota widened the advantage to 74-50 at intermission but lost the services of Rough for the first seven jams of the second period.
Cuter's second period-opening four-point strike extended MNRG's lead to 78-50. A 10-0 Arch Rival run spanning the next six jams cut the deficit to 78-60. In jam eight, Tanner broke the rally by posting seven, which pushed Minnesota's lead to 85-60. Unfortunately for the Aqua and Army's cause, another trooper was lost in the process as blocker Second Hand Smoke picked up her seventh penalty and fouled out with 20:30 left in the bout.
After Minnesota netted a 6-4 score in jam nine to push its lead to 27 points, Arch Rival scored 15 straight as Brickyard and Boston tallied 10 and five, respectively, and cut the gap to 91-79 with 16:30 left. Minnesota blockers Buzz TightRear, Shiver Me Kimbers, ShivaShankn and a host of others continued their steady, physical play as the period progressed. It showed as the aforementioned trio helped Killerbruise score 14 in jam 12 and extending its lead to 105-79 with 15:00 left.
On the other side of the ledger, the workload and output was about to increase for Arch Rival's blocking staff, paving the way for a 44-7 ARRG run over the bout's next six jams.
Four points from McFly was followed by a 4-2 strike from Boston and finished with Brickyard's four in jam 15 to narrow the Minnesota lead to 107-91. After Cuter notched a pair of points for MNRG with 10:00 left, Boston collected a dozen to make the bout a six-point nail biter, 109-103.
In jam 18, the Arch Rival rally hit its peak as MNRG's Tanner was sent off for a track cut. Stitches, in her first rotation as a jammer in the bout, capitalized on the advantage and posted 20 points. Tanner notched three after she returned to play, but the 20-3 exclamation point flipped the scoreboard to Arch Rival's favor, 123-112 with 5:50 remaining.
Following a 2-1 jam for Cuter, ARRG's Boston posted four that extended the hostesses' lead to 128-114 with 3:05 left. A 4-4 push in jam 21 raised the score to 132-118.
In the bout's penultimate jam, Cuter powered her way in front and posted a nine-point strike for Minnesota. With :23 left, Arch Rival clung onto a 132-127 lead. Following a MNRG time out, and with everyone in attendance in a perpetual state of frenzy, Boston and Killerbruise donned the star for Arch Rival and Minnesota, respectively. After the single whistle start and as the period clock ticked precious time, Boston inevitably scampered to the front of the pack, but not cleanly.
With under :10 left, Killerbruise gained lead for MNRG as Boston raced around the flat-track in an effort to notch non-lead points. Killerbruise called off the 0-0 jam as the period clock displayed a goose egg. After an officials' time out to confirm the expiration of the period clock, the bout was declared a 132-127 victory for Arch Rival.
"I'm really proud in the fact that we played every jam and had a strong finish," said ARRG's McFly, whose squad outscored Minnesota 82-53 in the second period. "We stayed out on the track and played for the last jam. We also managed the time, which was important."
Boston paced Arch Rival scoring with 43 points while Cuter notched 57 for Minnesota (1-5).
"I have a lot respect for Minnesota's players," said Danger. "They are absolutely amazing. Honestly, being out there tonight, looking around, I was like, I can't believe that I get to do this!"
OFFICIAL SCORING
ARCH RIVAL ALL-STARS (132)
Mighty Mighty Boston 42
Smarty McFly 33
Brickyard 28
May Require Stitches 20
South City Shiner 9
MINNESOTA ROLLERGIRLS (127):
L’exi Cuter 57
Fannie Tanner 30
Harmony Killerbruise 28
MEDUSA 12