Duluth, MN

By Shelly Shankya

What started as a blatant lead by Tucson Roller Derby (6) of Tucson, Arizona over Suburbia Roller Derby (9) of Westchester County, New York in Game 8 of Division 2 Tournament in Duluth, ended as a scrappy battle and an upset.

Photo by Ryan Quick

Tucson took an early lead with pack control and blocker dominance. Blockers Blaxican Bomber and Death Proof held the front of the pack for Tucson, relentlessly pounding the jammers from Suburbia, and, on several occasions, forcing track cuts on the jammers. In the opening moments of play, one such penalty allowed Tucson jammer Pixie Axe a chance to take her team to an early lead 37-4.

The heavy hitting wasn’t one-sided, however. Suburbia blockers did their fair share of letting push come to shove. In fact, Suburbia managed to keep more blockers on the track, as Tucson blockers went to the box for a number of penalties. Suburbia jammer Veloce Villain led the team in red with points in the first half, with 34 points.

With under 10 minutes of play, the jammer penalties had jammers rolling to the box on repeated jammer swap-outs. The score reflected the in-and-out jammer penalty box, but Tucson came out on top at the half, 85-74.

Momentum went in Tucson’s favor after the close of halftime. The team cleaned up their play, sending a full cadre of blockers to the line, and picked up a quick 18 points, extending their lead to 103 over Suburbia’s 100. The play went south for Tucson, however, as their penalty box filled up and put them in dire straits.

At the 15:00 minute mark, Tucson’s Saddletramps hit rough waters as the Suburbia All Stars pulled off repeated successful jams, taking 71 unanswered points from Tucson, and over-stepping their seeding. The scoreboard read 171-111 with just under eight minutes of play. Adding pain to the Tucson score, prolific jammer Mystery Meat was expelled at 7:54 for an egregious late hit illegal procedure.

Tucson ended its scoreless run, nabbing two points after Mystery Meat’s expulsion, but the tiny points here and there for Tucson weren’t enough in the end, despite the team using its second timeout. With just under 30 seconds remaining in the game, Suburbia reached the double century mark, and as the clock wound down, Tucson used its final timeout to pull off one more jam.

Suburbia’s blockers Little Loca and Berry Boom Boom fouled out in the game’s final jam, and Tucson took lead jammer. Suburbia’s jammer Veloce Villain refused to engage the pack, allowing Tucson to score on several passes in the final jam. However, it wasn’t enough to close the gap. Suburbia successfully overstepped their seeding and completed the upset, defeating Tucson 206-159.

Final Score

(9) Suburbia Roller Derby 206
(6) Tucson Roller Derby 159

Suburbia Roller Derby (9) moves on to play Brandywine Roller Girls (10) in Game 12 at 8:00 p.m. Tucson Roller Derby (6) will play Omaha Roller Girls (7) on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. in Game 13.