Bout Recap - April 25, 2009

Midwest Meltdown: WCR All-Stars eradicate Arch Rival Roller Girls

The Arch Rival Roller Girls (St. Louis, ranked 13) played the Windy City Rollers All-Stars (Chicago, ranked 2) on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at Hat Trick Hockey in Palatine, Ill.

This match-up is deep-seated in derby history. WCR played ARRG in WCR’s first full-length interleague bout in January 2007 and again in January 2008 for ARRG’s first full-length WFTDA sanctioned bout. Chicago claimed wins both times: 74-11 (2007) and 95-49 (2008).

The WCR All-Star team, with an already formidable lineup, added four new members: Georgia on Yer Behind, Go-Go Hatchet, Mo Vengeance and Ruth Enasia. This bout also saw the return of WCR co-captain Varla Vendetta; she had been out of the action since breaking her collarbone at the national tournament in Portland, and subsequently undergoing surgery. ARRG skated down threatening blocker Grave Danger and added Keligula in her place.

Windy City immediately set the rhythm in the first jam. WCR’s Shocka Conduit earned the game’s first lead status and raked in the first four points. In the second jam, sophomore All-Stars skater, Beth Amphetamine spread her spider-like legs into, through and beyond the pack. Just as she cleared the last St. Louis skater, however, she earned herself a cutting major via a stirring fall. ARRG jammer Artemischief attempted to cash in on her solo jammer status, but the wall of four solid WCR vets held her until Beth served her minute, attained lead status and quickly called off the jam.

The next jam began with the interleague jamming debut of All-Stars rookie Ruth Enasia against Arch Rival’s South City Shiner. It ended with a full penalty box for Windy City, including a major for forearms on Ruth and a major for hitting out of bounds on blocking powerhouse Ying O’Fire. The Shiner was slightly manhandled by Malice With Chains, but she used her solo jammer status to collect four points.

In the following jams, ARRG jammers depended heavily on whips, and the pack responded accordingly by fielding the jammers and driving them past WCR blockers. In turn, several ARRG jammers became the unfortunate punching bags of Megan Formor and Malice With Chains.

For WCR, the star of the game was Varla Vendetta. On her first pass as a returning jammer, she took a muscular whip from Malice that drove her clear beyond the pack. With The Siege trapped, Varla polished off second and third passes. She gained 24 points for her team: the highest scoring jam of the game.

After serving a penalty minute for illegal procedure (specifically calling off a jam when she wasn’t lead), Athena DeCrime avoided a skater pileup with some fancy footwork. Feeding off the crowd’s rally cry, she scored a lucrative 13 points.

Megan’s infamous Mohawk hip blocks kept ARRG jammers at bay while Chicago, specifically Varla and Nina Millimeter as pivots, controlled the speed and direction of the pack. At the end of the first half, the score was 88 to 24.

In the second period, a spree of ARRG lead jammer statuses — held by Artemischief, Chanel and Keligula — helped garner points. With 22:03 remaining in the second half, Windy City hit the centennial mark while St. Louis hovered at 32 points.

After 10-point jams from Athena DeCrime and Shocka Condit in the sixth and seventh jam, respectively, the point spread only increased. Athena’s speed and proficient form propelled her through the pack, and Shocka’s deep lunges and skate control established her as a miniature, and consequentially difficult, target.

In the ninth jam, powerful whips from Megan Formor and Malice With Chains sent WCR jammer Varla sailing through the pack. These were later cancelled out by a secure hit from ARRG’s Overland Offender. Killer Tomato also made some solid contact that sent Varla to the inside. Ultimately, Varla still scored another 19 points for her team. In the tenth jam, WCR jammer Beth Amphetamine, notorious for systematically positioning her blockers like chess pieces, earned her highest scoring jam of the game: 17 points.

Due to perpetual penalty issues, jammer The Siege of ARRG skated in three consecutive jams until she passed the cap to her pivot, Eva Lasting Jawbreaker. WCR’s Georgia on Yer Behind and Mo Vengeance proved to be a firm holding team as Ying’s sweeping hits cleared the path for her approaching jammers.

In jam 12, the commanding Megan Formor simultaneously pushed WCR jammer Ruth Enasia beyond the pack’s threshold and hip-checked a St. Louis blocker. The WCR bench chanted, “the Ruth is on fire!” as Ruth skipped through the pack and got lead jammer in approximately seven seconds. Meanwhile, ARRG’s Keligula demonstrated her impressive agility as she wiggled her way around Nina Millimeter.

Throughout, Arch Rival didn’t lose sight of the goal of each individual jam, no matter how much the score difference crept up on them. The WCR All-Stars played a fast game and remained mostly defensive, unless their jammer was struggling with an ARRG blocker or was in need of a whip. In turn, St. Louis was forced to play more offensively; concentrating on driving its jammer through WCR’s tight defensive line. In the end, history did indeed repeat itself and Chicago walked away with another victory over St. Louis. The final score was 186 to 45.