Charleston, WV

By The Oxford Commakaze

Kicking off the second day of the international 2014 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Charleston, the higher-seeded Boston Derby Dames (6 seed, WFTDA 22) defeated the Jet City Rollergirls (8 seed, WFTDA 30) of Everett, Wash. – but not without a good scare from the West Coast team in the first half.

Photo by Steve Mancini/Masonite Burn

The game got off to a start that set the pace for the day with a quick lead jam call for Boston jammer Maya Mangleyou, but heavy hitting in the pack sprung Jet jammer Whoa Nellie! shortly afterwards, forcing Maya to hit the pack with just enough time to grab four points and call off the jam for a 4-0 lead. Jet put its first points on the board two jams later, tying the game at 8-8 as jammer Ivana Hercha grabbed two passes while Boston jammer Lil Paine was tied up behind a wall of white.

Although Boston snagged a quick three points in the next jam, Jet started a slow-but-sure scoring run, starting with a 13-point Jam 5 in which Jet jammer racked up points while Nasty Nikki Nightstick kept Boston jammer Space Invader recycling out and to the back of the pack with Cia WoodNwanna-bia coming to take Nikki’s place after getting sent to the box. By halfway through the first period, Jet established a 19-50 lead by taking advantage of a glut of penalties to Boston and getting its own jammers out quickly even when Boston took lead jammer.

“I think the first 15 minutes we were a little bit unsettled. We don’t typically play games at 10 a.m.,” especially after playing a difficult game late the day before, said Boston’s Lil Paine. “The first 15 minutes of roller derby games are always a toss-up, so we reminded ourselves of that.”

A timeout for Boston reinvigorated the team with Lil Paine grabbing lead and several passes for Boston with quick offense from her blockers in the fast-moving pack, running the clock long enough to spring Boston blockers from the box and bringing the score to 32-54. Both teams traded turns putting up points on the board for the rest of the half, but with Boston grabbing just a few more in each pass and ultimately overtaking Jet after a power jam for Flyin’ King, and later Lil Paine after a star pass, gave Boston 21 more points and a 76-71 lead. Unforgiving recycling by Vixen Ta Hitcha on Jet’s jammer and fast offense from Amy Rock in the last jams of the half brought Boston to a 126-83 lead to close the period.

The second half got off to a shaky start after the first jam was called off almost immediately, as Boston jammer Maya Mangleyou collided with a referee on her way to the penalty box, seemingly rattling Boston and opening the door for Jet jammer Eva Derci to score a whopping 30 points on a subsequent power jam, bringing the score within 13 points to 126-113. But although Jet snuck in a couple of points here and there, Boston slowly regrouped in the next five jams, outscoring Jet in each jam and earning 14- and 19-point passes from Flyin’ King and MC Slamher, who put up 28 points in her first game as a chartered skater.

Jet continued to chip away at points wherever it could, picking up two lead jammer calls in a row with jammers Whoa Nellie! and Eva Derci pushing hard up the middle while their blockers held Boston at bay with an inverted defense of backwards-facing blockers. Both teams continued battling it out, trading lead jammer calls and scoring passes, but holding Jet to just three points over eight jams gave Boston an opportunity to further solidify its lead, jumping to a 217-139 lead with just a few minutes left.

Jet picked up two more lead jammer calls by starting on the pivot line, forcing a faster start that worked for their skaters despite in-your-face defense at the jammer line by Boston. In the final jam, Boston’s Stevie Nixher repeatedly pushed Jet’s Whoa Nellie! out of bounds and forced her to the back of the pack while Maya Mangleyou, who returned halfway through the second period, put up 13 more points. Nellie escaped the pack after Maya’s second pass, but Maya ran down the clock as her blockers kept Nellie to just one point before the jam was called as the period clock expired for a final score of 230-146.

“It seemed like they played really hard. They wanted it, they worked together, they had a strategy – that inverted blocking,” said Lil Paine. “You couldn’t get around them with just one step; you had to take two or three to beat them.”

Paine added that in their quest for a fifth-place finish, the highest they can finish after losing to the Philly Roller Girls last night, Boston tries to focus on enjoying the game and taking advantage of the opportunity to play any game.

“Anytime that we get to go on the flat track and play this game and represent our city, we also think about what this sport represents in the broader context of the world,” said Lil Paine. “It is a revolution for feminism, empowerment and physicality, and we feel very privileged to be part of that. We don’t take for granted that playing at this level.”

Boston will move on to play the Mad Rollin’ Dolls (Seed 7, WFTDA 29) of Madison, Wisc., at 4 p.m. EDT today. Jet will face an undetermined opponent in the ninth-place game at 10 a.m. EDT on Sunday.

Final Score

(8) Jet City Rollergirls 146
(6) Boston Derby Dames 231