Evansville, IN

by Shelly Shankya

Delivering the first upset at the international WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Evansville, Arizona Roller Derby’s (AZRD) Tent City Terror’s (seed 10, rank #39) of Phoenix, Arizona, USA, managed to pull a second-half upset over Steel City Roller Derby’s Steel Hurtin’ (seed 7, rank #28) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, with a final score of 200-185.

Photo by Donna Olmstead

The first 15 minutes of the game was a tight back-and-forth between the teams, as neither team managed a more than 9-point jam, and the two teams fought nearly evenly to maintain lead jammer status. Steel and Arizona even traded one power jam for another, as the point spread remained within striking distance, 35-31 in favor of Steel City. A true fluke occurred in the eighteenth jam, however, as AZRD jammer Pushy Tushy lost the front truck of her skate, which resulted in a low block penalty and a power jam for Steel City. The power jam, on the heels of a 15-point jam by Pittsburgh jammer Snot Rocket Science, went to Athena after jammer Leannibal Lecter completed a star pass. Athena went on to score 25 points, putting Steel City up comfortably over Arizona, 81-39.

There were a few drives by Arizona to regain a foothold, but that wasn’t in store for the Tent City Terrors, and Steel City went into the half with a 32-point lead, 99-67.

“We had a jam that we couldn’t control,” Arizona jammer and blocker Loco Lena said. “We had to remind ourselves that we start all jams 0-0, and we can’t reflect on the past. We had to remain focused.”

While Steel City fielded the track, knocking on the century mark, Arizona managed to hold the Steel Hurtin’, as the ladies in pink and white went on a 38-6 point scoring run, grabbing lead jammer status for the first nine-straight jams. By the ninth jam, Arizona grabbed the lead, 109-106. There was a slight volley between the teams for the following few jams, 10-14, but AZRD came out on top. Scoreless for seven straight jams, the Steel City skaters got mired in the Terrors’ grab for the win, as Arizona scored 58 unanswered points.

“We needed to be reassured,” Loco Lena said. “We came in as the low seed and wanted to prove we were here for a reason. And we all own the responsibility of our win.”

Arizona Roller Derby pulled away for the win, despite a final jam push by Steel City during which jammer Snot Rocket Science scored 27 points. It wasn’t enough to overcome the Tent City Terrors, however, as they took the game and gave Steel City an upset, 200-185.

“We’re going to rest and re-fuel [for our game against Texas],” Loco Lena said. “We’ve been practicing for months. We’re conditioned and ready. We can’t play Texas’s game tonight. We have to play our AZRD game.”

Arizona Roller Derby (seed 10, rank #39) move on to play Texas Rollergirls (seed 2, rank #6) in Game 5 on Friday at 6:00 pm.

Steel City Roller Derby (seed 7, rank #28) move to the consolation bracket to play the loser of Game 6 on Saturday at 10:00 am.

Final Score

(7) Steel City Roller Derby 185
(10) Arizona Roller Derby 200