M-80s TOP SMASHIES TO MOVE INTO SECOND PLACE TIE!
by Muckety Muck, ARRG Bout Co-Announcer
(BALLWIN, MO) As temperatures dipped across the area this past weekend, the intensity “heated up” during the Arch Rival Roller Girls’ local season double header Saturday night at Midwest Sport Hockey in front of 450.
In the process, two squads posted strong wins and made upward moves in the 2012-13 local season standings.
Capitalizing on a late first-period charge, ARRG defending champions the M-80s grinded out a 169-154 victory over the Smashinistas in the evening’s opener and moved into a second place tie in the league standings with their Saturday opponent. As a result of the bout, both squads now sport 1-1 records.
In the nightcap, the Stunt Devils went for the jugular early and barreled their way to a 222-88 win over Rebel Skate Alliance and grab sole possession of first place in the league’s hierarchy with a 2-0 mark.
The three-event regular season continues on Saturday, January 12 at Midwest Sport Hockey.
The results of this weekend’s twin bill proved that the top seed for the February playoff round is still anyone’s for the taking.
M-80s 169 SMASHINISTAS 154
Heartbroken by a three-point setback against the Stunt Devils at the league’s season opener in November, the M-80s needed a “pick-me-up” in order to get back into the thick of things in the 2012-13 intraleague standings.
This would not be easy for the firecrackers on quads knowing that they faced a veteran Smashinistas squad that sported a 1-0 record.
“We still have a very green team,” said the M-80s’ EnYa Nightmare. “We have some new girls and we’re still working on the basics. Keeping our vets on the track and making sure we’re staying on the track. That’s all we really have right now.”
And at certain points during Saturday’s bout, it looked like the defending ARRG champs could be handed its second straight loss.
Following a bout-opening five-pointer from Smashies’ jammer The Educator, the M-80s countered with a baker’s dozen uncontested. Black Market Baby’s four-pointer was followed by Nightmare’s nine, resulting in a 13-5 M-80s’ lead four minutes in.
The Smashies pestered the defending champs on the next couple of rotations and whittled the M-80s’ edge to three points, 18-15 with 22:00 left in the half.
The M-80s then found the firepower it was looking for on the next jam as Black Market Baby – aided by solid pack work from her blockers – posted 19 points and extended the lead to 37-15 with 20:15 left.
Undaunted, the Smashies countered with a 10-4 jam from Brickyard on the next rotation to narrow the gap to 41-25. The differential remained at 16 points three jams later, which saw the M-80s sport a 46-30 edge midway through the half.
And then Smashinistas hit their first big surge of the night.
At 14:45,Nightmare grabbed lead for the M-80s and scored three, but then was sent to the penalty box for a track cut major. The Educator capitalized on the power jam and scored nine for the Smashies, whittling the margin to 49-39 with 13:00 left in the half.
Then in the next rotation, the returning Nightmare – fresh from her time spent in the “sin bin” – was penalized for the exact same infraction committed sixty seconds prior and returned to the sidelines, enabling the Smashies’ Brickyard to score a dozen points, resulting in a 51-49 lead change with 10:45 left.
The ladies sporting camouflage were far from finished offensively. The Educator scored another nine points with 8:50 left in the period, extending the Smashies’ lead to 60-49. Shimmy Hoffa’s pair of points was followed by a three-spot sported by the Educator, completing a 35-0 Smashies’ run which extended their lead to 65-49 with 6:20 left in the half.
A 3-2 jam by the M-80s’ Nightmare whittled the differential to fifteen, 67-52.
And just like its opponent had done earlier, the M-80s found momentum when needed and pounced on opportunity late in the frame. With 5:00 left in the half, the Smashies’ Hoffa was sent to the penalty box to serve a two-minute major. This enabled Black Market Baby to score a 30-point power jam, resulting in an 82-67 lead change in favor of the M-80s with 3:05 left in the half.
The M-80s continued the momentum with an 8-2 stretch in periods’ final two jams and sported a 90-69 lead at intermission.
The defending champs extended their lead to 106-72 eleven minutes deep into the second frame thanks to the stubborn pack play of M-80s’ blockers May Require Stitches, Rhino-Might, Spice Rack, The Ginger Assassin, Stray Touhell, Julia Ghoulia, Molecular Mayhem and Kimical Burn.
However, the Smashinistas were far from “waving the white flag” as Brickyard collected 15 points with 17:15 remaining to whittle the M-80s’ lead to 106-87. A 15-10 M-80s’ run over the next four jams pushed their advantage to 121-97 with nine minutes remaining.
The M-80s found the “bout-breaker” it was looking for late as jammer May Require Stitches notched a 23-point jam with 6:28 left to extend the margin to 147-107.
Down the stretch, the Smashies did everything they could to cut into the gap. A 31-12 Smashies’ rally over the next four jams narrowed the differential to 159-138 with under :10 left in the period clock.
On the bout’s final jam, the Smashies’ Brickyard raced to the front to grab lead, but the M-80s’ Black Market Baby followed closely. Although Brickyard collected 16 points on the final rotation, Boomba’s non-lead tally of ten points provided the cushion for M-80s. The M-80s’ 169-154 gut check win was anything but easy, yet the 15-point “W” counted where it mattered most, evening the squad’s record at 1-1.
Paced by 53 first-period points, Black Market Baby topped M-80s’ scoring with 78 unofficially, followed by Nightmare’s 62.
For the M-80’s their 2012-13 ARRG campaign, it’s been two nailbiting bouts. They expect the same when they face Rebel Skate Alliance at Midwest Sport Hockey on January 14.
“RSA have had some tough bouts, but they’re still growing,” said Nightmare. “They’re getting better every bout, so we definitely cannot underestimate them.”
The Smashinistas, who dropped to 1-1, was paced by the Educator’s 80 points, followed by Brickyard’s 64. And one can bet that they will be more than ready to battle the Stunt Devils in January and make a statement heading into the upcoming playoff round. Due to their high point output through two bouts, a Smashie win next month could mathematically result in a top seed for the playoff round.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
M-80s (169): Black Market Baby 78, EnYa Nightmare 62, May Require Stitches 26, Ida The Living Dead 3
SMASHINISTAS (154): The Educator 80, Brickyard 64, Shimmy Hoffa 10
STUNTS DEVILS 222 REBEL SKATE ALLIANCE 88
Even with a victory last month to start their local season campaign, the Stunt Devils will be the first ones to tell others that they did not play their best derby that evening.
“We had a big hiccup in our bout last month against the M-80s in the second half,” reflected Stunt Devils’ blocker Grave Danger on her team’s three-point November win. “We made some mistakes, so we took that time (off) to focus on correcting those mistakes.”
Oh my, did they ever! Consider this. The Stunts obtained “lead jammer” in the first eleven rotations and provided very little leeway to the spunky RSA.
In short, the tone was set early and showed how their hard work in practice paid off in spades…purple spades.
“Playing stronger defensively and working harder offensively,” said Danger of her team’s output. “I think that really came through tonight. We were really able to come out of the gates hard, keep hitting and keep pounding away at their jammers.”
Ruthless aggression. For the Stunt Devils Saturday, there was no other option.
Back-to-back-to-back four-pointers posted by the Stunts in the bout’s first three jams resulted in a quick 12-0 lead. RSA’s Pink Diamond netted a 4-3 non-lead strike to narrow the gap to 15-4 six minutes in.
South City Shiner’s 4-3 jam on the next rotation stretched the Stunt Devils’ lead to 19-7.
And that dozen-point differential would be the tightest of the night as the Stunts kicked the offense into high-gear, resulting in a 38-0 rally that covered ten minutes. Mighty Mighty Boston punched across a 14-point jam to extend the Stunts’ lead to 33-7. Two jams later, Shiner’s 13-point power jam at 18:20 widened the margin to 46-7. Boston added another four, followed by four from Killer Painguin. Shiner put the exclamation point on the rally with three collected midway through the frame, which extended the Stunts’ lead to 57-7.
RSA rebounded with a rally of its own as the half progressed. Smarty McFly broke the scoring drought with a two-pointer scored with 14:30 left in the period. Diamond followed with three and Spider Monkey added three of her own in succession. Diamond’s 8-0 jam at 10:14 concluded the 16-0 RSA rally and whittled the deficit to 57-23.
The Stunts Devils – remembering how they surrendered a large margin in their prior bout – responded with a 30-0 run. Following four from Penguin with 9:15 left, Shiner served up a 22-pointer that extended the lead to 83-23. Shiner tacked another four on the next jam to conclude the streak and push the Stunts’ margin to 87-23 with 5:40 left in the period.
Diamond shined a three-pointer on the next rotation to get RSA back into the scoring column, but Stunt Devil jammer Mayor Francis Slayer countered with nine to extend the lead to 96-26.
Shiner’s power jam in the final rotation of the period netted eight points and gave the Stunts a 104-26 lead at intermission.
Following a second-period opening four-pointer by the Stunts’ Boston, RSA posted a 14-0 rally. McFly’s three was followed by Diamond’s nine-point tally at 26:30. McFly added another pair of points two jams later to narrow the deficit to 115-40.
And then…oh boy, and then.
Back-to-back power jams netted 37 points for the Stunts. An 18-6 strike by Shiner was followed by a 19-pointer from Boston that pushed the Stunt Devils’ lead to 152-46 with 20:30 left. Painguin added five on the next rotation to up the ante to 157-46.
RSA showed spurts offensively as the period progressed. McFly notched eight with 18:00 left and later netted 19 off a power jam two rotations later to cut the differential to 161-73 with 14:10 remaining.
But the Stunt Devils’ blocking, paced by Danger, Slayer, Deathica Steele, Morgan LeFaetal, Toe Stop Belevin’, Arcane Sugar, Hydrogen Bombshell, Biohazard Betty, Shacgyver and Vod Kaknockers, put the kibosh on any late-bout intergalactic heroics and kept RSA at bay.
In the process, Shiner notched a 20-point power jam with 7:25 left to extend the differential.
The Stunt Devils proceeded to outscore RSA 118-62 in the second period to post the 134-point win that extended the team’s record to 2-0 and claim top honors in the league’s hierarchy.
Shiner paced the Stunts with 97 points unofficially, followed by Boston’s 83.
But even with the impressive win, the Stunts know their hardest challenge of the regular season looms ahead as they battle the Smashinistas in January.
“If you look at player-for-player all of the rosters in the league, the Smashinistas definitely are the biggest threat,” said Danger. “They’ve got the most experience on their team. For them, that’s a plus and a minus. It’s a plus for them because they are a superstar team. Nobody can deny that. It’s a minus because we all know who their strong players are and who need to look out for.”
And preparation for that projected donnybrook at Queeny has already commenced.
“We are already crafting our game plan,” said Danger. “I am already so excited for that game. I feel like that’s going to be the match-up of the year.
Pink Diamond paced Rebel Skate Alliance scoring with 45 points, followed by Smarty McFly’s 37. RSA drops to 0-2 on the season, yet – for the second straight bout – showed steady improvement. The squad faces the M-80s next month.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
STUNT DEVILS (222): South City Shiner 97, Mighty Mighty Boston 97, Mayor Francis Slayer 26, Killer Painguin 16
REBEL SKATE ALLIANCE (88): Pink Diamond 45, Smarty McFly 37, Spider Monkey 6
For post-bout interviews from Saturday night with the Stunt Devils’ Grave Danger and the M-80s EnYa Nightmare, head over to ARRG’s Official FACEBOOK PAGE!
NEXT MONDAY IN THE ARRG NEWSCENTER: Now that you’ve got the “x’s and o’s” of Saturday night’s intraleague doubleheader, let’s break down the bouts and see what stood out positively for the four squads and what areas need improvement. More importantly, what did the results from Saturday night show in the league’s complexion as it heads into a very important set of January bouts? ARRG bout co-announcer Magilla Guerilla reflects on this weekend’s action and provides food for thought in another installment of “Guerilla Uncaged.”
Muckety Muck and Magilla Guerilla are bout co-announcers for the Arch Rival Roller Girls. Check back in this section on Mondays for the latest in ARRG news and information.
