Richmond, VA

Terminal City defense leads team to victory over New Hampshire

By Megan Enemies

Terminal City Roller Girls (ranked 38, seed 10) of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, beat New Hampshire Roller Derby (ranked 37, seed 9), of Nashua, New Hampshire, 250-154, to earn seventh place in 2013 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Richmond. Despite a fierce battle on the track, the seventh and eighth place teams did their “victory” lap together at the end of the game.

Early in the game, Terminal City jammer Kim Janna was able to push New Hampshire defenders out of play to earn leader jammer status, while New Hampshire jammer Game Ovaries was stuck at the back of the pack. It was a scene that would be repeated time after time in this bout. Terminal City jammer Evada Peron – who scored 83 points against Tampa Roller Derby Friday – had a strong game, earning lead jammer status in most of the jams she skated in. Evada Peron and fellow jammers Bobbi Barbarich, Janna, and Luludemon began to chip away at the New Hampshire lead, and by jam 13, the score was 49-41, in favor of Terminal City.

New Hampshire blockers got in early penalty trouble, which often gave Terminal City a pack advantage.
Both teams put together tough defensive walls, but Terminal City jammers seemed to be able to push through defenders with ease, while New Hampshire jammers often struggled to get out of the pack. New Hampshire blockers Pammy Decker, Bash, and mcKILLA Queen were able to contain the wily and agile Janna, but rarely did New Hampshire use their blocking power to run offensive plays for their jammers.

The New Hampshire blockers seemed to favor passive offensive strategies, like slowing down at the back of the pack, so their jammer could force the forward opposing blockers out of play. But that strategy usually didn’t work in New Hampshire’s favor. Terminal City, however, did execute successful offensive plays – like when Megan Griffith ran forward to break-up a New Hampshire wall for Evada Peron.

Terminal City jammers – upon hearing a “no pack” call from infield referees, wasted no time pushing their way past blockers, whereas New Hampshire’s jammers often didn’t react quickly enough, and the pack reformed before they could get through.

New Hampshire scored four points in jam 18 – and they wouldn’t score again for six jams, when they added nine points in the fourth jam of the second half.

Decker started the second half with has six penalties, and several other New Hampshire blockers had made multiple trips to the box. After a long dry run, Punky finally scored for New Hampshire against Luludemon, bringing the score to 160-73. Swirko added four more points for New Hampshire in the next jam, and her teammate Game Ovaries passed the jammer star to Scarlett Bloodbath in the jam after that to add nine more points for New Hampshire.

Terminal City blockers Eve Hallows, Scarlett Bloodbath, Germaine Koh, and Jocelyn Ingram stopped Swirko in her tracks in jam 12. Koh and Kim MacKenzie also made life difficult for Punky in jam 17, until they both went to the box on penalties. New Hampshire was scoreless for nine consecutive jams, until Game Ovaries picked up points toward the end of the game. The bout ended with Terminal City taking it by almost 100 points, 250-154

This was the first trip to a WFTDA tournament for both teams, and with each team finishing above their seed, it was a successful trip for both.

Final Score

(9) New Hampshire Roller Derby 154
(10) Terminal City Roller Girls (7th) 250

Terminal City Roller Girls come in 7th; New Hampshire Roller Derby come in 8th.