TUCSON, AZ -- More like triple-header, as the half-time entertainment was an exhibition bout by the best danged Derby Brats around! But in the big people's match-ups it was the Copper Queens upsetting the undefeated-until-now Vice Squad, 60-47, and the Iron Curtain winning their first full intraleague bout in decisive fashion over the Furious Truckstop Waitresses, 113-14.
A lot of derby for one night. Maybe too much! Let's get straight to the details!
Copper Queens v. VICE Squad
That the Copper Queens ultimately won this bout is even more impressive when you consider that the VICE Squad held them at 0 points for the first 12 minutes, but even in those scoreless opening minutes the Queens held up defensively against VICE and prevented them from running away with the game.
While the first two jams went VICE's way, 2-0 and 8-0, (That would be Sami Automatic over Dirty Teri and Polly Graf over Ferocious Oxide, respectively), the next three were 0-0 stalemates. Carrie Gunns then delivered a clean 5-0 Grand Slam over Dirty Teri to make it a 15-0 VICE lead. The Queens saw their first points in the seventh jam in a near wash, but Pixie Axe was still on the wrong end of a 4-3 jam against Sami Automatic. 19-3, the 16-point lead would be VICE's biggest.
Powder Keg turned it around for the Queens in her first jam of the night. Up against Myna N. Possession, Keg scored a double Grand Slam. The 10 points made it 19-13 and VICE wouldn't hold a bigger lead until the second period.
With the score close again and VICE's early dominance nearly erased, the game became a grind with both teams playing very well and the jam scores staying low. The Queens slowly shrank the VICE lead and with 5 minutes they only lead by 2 at a score of 24-22.
The jam that gave the Queens their first lead of the game was fraught with some drama. It was Polly Graf of VICE skating against Pixie Axe of the Queens. Pixie quickly earned lead jammer and shortly after Polly was sent to the penalty box. (It was the first jammer penalty of the game, no less, and one of only three total by the end of the game. Kudos to both teams for playing so disciplined).
With a power jam and nearly two minutes to run, Pixie was poised to make a big jump for her team. However on her first scoring pass she was hit hard by Deadlock Doe. The hit, which happened out of bounds and reportedly included flagrant use of a forearm, was judged as grounds for expulsion. Moreover, Pixie Axe was sent hard into the rink wall and took several minutes to recover. She was not be able to return to skating that night.
Deadlock Doe, it should be noted, had up to that point been a tremendous asset defensively. Her absence no doubt had an impact on the complexion of the game, though VICE is replete with great defenders and would continue to dog the Queens' jammers well.
Injured and stopped short of having a breakout jam, Pixie Axe still scored 3 points before going down, making it a 25-24, in favor of the Copper Queens for the first time. The last two jams of the period gave the Queens 3 more points over VICE, ending the period at 28-24.
Points, shmoints, defense-heavy bouts are fun to watch.
The Queens jammer rotation through the first period had already given more star-time to Powder Keg and Kay Boom than was given in the bout against the Iron Curtain. With Pixie Axe gone these two skaters were given even more time on the line in the second half.
The second period started swimmingly for the VICE Squad. Sami Automatic skated the full two minutes against Ferocious Oxide, who spent one of those minutes in the penalty box. Sami delivered the game's most lopsided jam, 12-0. This catapulted VICE firmly back into the lead at 36-28, but the eight points would be their biggest for the remainder of the game.
Dirty Teri immediately cut the lead in half with a nice 4-0 jam. Sami Automatic won the next for VICE, but she was held to 1-0.
Kay Boom of the Queens followed all this up with a 5-0 Grand Slam that tied the game at 37, but a nod has to go to Queens pivot Rough Cut Jules for her clean-effective blocking on this jam. VICE jammer Polly Graf quickly got to the front of the pack well ahead of Boom, with only Jules between her and lead jammer status. Jules, smaller by far than most roller girls, held the line and slowed Polly down without stretching things to 20 feet. The pack eventually caught up to both of them and Kay Boom would go on to break the pack first and Polly never would.
If you watch her, this is the sort of thing Jules does all the time, but it rarely gets noticed because it's always clean and never comes with any attitude or hits attached. Well it's getting noticed this time.
Teri followed up the play with a 3-0 jam over Carrie Gunns that gave the lead back to the Queens, but Sami Automatic immediately matched this with a 3-0 jam over Ferocious Oxide to tie it back up at 40 with just about 19 minutes to play.
From here the Copper Queens made an impressive defensive stand that in one sense lasted the rest of the game, (VICE would only score 7 more points), but more immediately had the impact of shutting the VICE Squad out entirely for the next 5 jams. However, like VICE's early-game shut-out streak, the Queens did not exactly run away with the score, only pushing things to 49-40 before VICE next scored.
During this stretch the VICE began to employ a strategy not seen since their last defeat, (last season, also to the Copper Queens), which was heavy use of Sami Automatic at the jammer line, changing the rotation so that she skated two out of three jams. Given that Sami never seems to tire nor skate uncompetitively, it is hard to say that this strategy isn't worthwhile, but it did not work last time and it wouldn't work this time.
Polly Graf broke the shut out with a 2-1 victory over Ferocious Oxide, but the jam could have been more effective if not again for the efforts of Rough Cut Jules at the front to slow her down until Fero was hot on her heels.
From here the game was a tense grind yet again. The biggest jams after this point were 4-0, one in favor of the Queens, (Teri over Sami), and one in favor of VICE, (Polly over Teri). The rest of the jams were small affairs, all of them either 0-0 or minor victories for the Queens and the score slowly cinched up to 60-47. The last jam showcased the bout's marquee match-up, Sami Automatic versus Dirty Teri. Teri would go on to earn lead jammer after the game clock expired and so called it off immediately to seal the victory and summon a surge of zeal from the energized crowd.
Iron Curtain v. Furious Truckstop Waitresses
With no disrespect to any skaters involved, the second bout was not as exciting as the first. This bout is significant in TRD history, however, for being the first time the Iron Curtain were able to defeat an intraleague opponent in a regulation-length bout. The final score was 113-14.
But similar to the mini-bout match-up between these two teams, the Iron Curtain stumbled out of the gate and the Waitresses pounced. In the first jam, Bianka Trohl of the IC broke pack first against Waitress Skeletor, but a minor penalty kept her from earning lead jammer. Skeletor, not far behind, called of the jam and kept it 0-0.
In the second jam, IC's Punchkisser was sent to the penalty box and Zippy's Takeout took a 3-0 jam for the Waitresses. Still in the box at the start of the next jam, Punchkisser lost the next jam 2-0, and the Waitresses took a 5-0 lead.
The fourth jam was Luc3f3r's first for the Iron Curtain, and the expectation was that she would turn things around for her team. It was no small task, as she faced Peaches Rodriguez of the Waitresses, a veteran jammer of undeniable talent. Luce prevailed all the same, 4-0, and brought the score to 5-4 in favor of FTW.
From here the IC began their expected domination. The Waitresses did not score again until 8 jams later, when a succession of two jams gave them 6 more points. 11 would be all they would get in the first half. The Curtain led 36-11.
To credit the Waitresses' effort in this first half, they held IC to 36 points, which is a solid defensive showing. Their jammers also broke the pack fast enough to keep the Iron Curtain from taking more than one scoring pass in any jam, and a 25-point deficit is not that big, really. Also, when the Curtain faltered early, The Waitresses found success. It can hard to remember that in Roller Derby a lopsided score does not mean the losing team is that much worse than their opponent.
The second half was not be as successful for FTW, however. Already up by 25, the Iron Curtain easily ran away with the score. In fact, a near-novelty occurred, as the Waitresses were almost completely shut out for the entire period.
The Waitresses only points came from Peaches Rodriguez, who snuck in 3 points against Helen Wheels after a referee gaffe, (names will not be mentioned). Peaches broke pack first, but lead jammer was waived off. Soon after, Helen Wheels broke pack in time to call it off before Peaches scored, but her lead jammer status was slowed to be recognized.
No bother for the IC. The final score again was 113-14.
A final thought: Luc3f3r, obviously in love with skating, did not use the rout of her opponents as an opportunity to rest, instead taking extra jams in the face of the usual risks of tiring. Truth be told, however, if one watched Luce jam in this game, they were watching the wrong thing. As a Derby Brat graduate, much gets made of how the transition to a hitting game should be a challenge for her. If it was ever true, this game proved it is not a factor anymore. Luc3f3r pivots as much as she jams, and when she pivots, she hits. Nice.
