Milwaukee, WI

By Shelly Shankya

The Texas Rollergirls and the Denver Roller Dolls met in the 3rd/4th Place game in the 2012 WFTDA Championships, and Denver came out victorious due to a second-half comeback. But when the Texecutioners took the lead from the first whistle in their semi-final game against the Mile High Club this year, they never let go.

Jules Doyle

In a day full of uproar, the Texecutioners came to the track calm and collected, playing out each of the opening jams to their fullest extent; very rarely in the first fifteen minutes did a jam go for fewer than two minutes. And the women from Texas showed their endurance, playing smart in the face of Denver’s tough front walls. Denver struggled with penalty trouble, often giving Texas a 4-2 pack advantage.

“Our team has changed in that we’ve put a real emphasis on dynamic skating,” co-captain Sarah “Killbox” Hipel said. “We’ve put a serious punctuation on fluidity in our skating this season.”

In a jammer swap-out in the fourth jam, Denver jammer Urrk’n Martin scored 13 points as Olivia Shootin’ John sat in the box; what made the point scoring so remarkable was Urrk’n’s agility as she managed to ride the track boundary on one skate even with Texas blocker Smarty Pants leaning on her. The Mile High Club looked to have a change of fortune starting in the fifth jam, as they captured lead jammer three jams in a row, and scored 16 points to narrow the gap, 46-33.

The tide again turned to Texas’ favor, however, as Denver jammer Amanda Sharpless cut the track, followed by a back block by jammer Julie Adams. After those two penalties, Texas blockers Fifi Nomenon and Molotov M. Pale made Denver jammers work for every single point, holding the Mile High Club to a mere 15 points in jams 10 through 18. Smarty Pants showed her experience on the track, at one point opening up a slim spot on the inside of the track for Olivia Shootin’ John with a 4-2 pack advantage in Denver’s favor. Only two jams later, Smarty forced a track cut on Ashley Bucsek, and then Smarty took the star pass from Texas jammer Hipel to score nine points.

“By focusing on dynamics, I mean that we’ve worked more on our skating skills, not allowing our skaters to be pigeon-holed and not allowing any one skater to only skate fast and turn left,” Hipel said. “We have a wider epistemic base, which allows us to draw upon many skaters to play in many different positions.”

The half ended with both teams using their official reviews; Denver questioned the track cut call on Bucsek in the previous jam, and Texas requested a review of a potential forearm call on Bucsek after she served her time. Both the call and the non-call stood. The period ended with Texas in the lead 141-57.

Kitt Ruff

The second period was largely a repeat of the first, with Texas dominating the track and the scoreboard, scoring a total of 57 points in the first five jams. The team also relied on their strength and endurance to draw out the longer jams and force cuts on both Adams and Urrk’n. Denver blockers did their own bits of damage, especially as blockers Deirdre Sage and Shaina Serelson paired up to hold Hipel for a 1:30 as Sami Lester grabbed eight points.

Unfortunately for Denver, the jammer penalties—two from Lester, one from Adams, and another by Sharpless—kept any hopes at a second-half comeback at an untouchable distance. And on top of the jammers’ penalties, Serelson and S.H. Long fouled out during the final 10 minutes of the game.

“I hate to say it, but the jammer penalties were the tipping point for us,” Hipel said. “Denver is a tough team with solid blockers. They’re a strong team.”

Final Score

Texas Rollergirls (Richmond #1) 302
Denver Roller Dolls (Fort Wayne #1) 129

The Texecutioners skated away with the win, 302-129 and play for a chance at the 2013 WFTDA Championship title on Sunday at 6:00 pm CST