Evansville, IN

Steel Steamrolls Ohio

by Ninja Sass'em

In Game 7 of the international WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Evansville, Indiana, the Steel Hurtin’ of Steel City Roller Derby from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (seed 7, rank #28) took advantage of a crucial bench management mistake in the first half to roll over the Ohio All-Stars of Ohio Roller Girls (OHRG) from Columbus, Ohio (seed #5, rank #20) with a final score of 206-187.

These two teams played only 3 short weeks ago and Ohio took the win 216-191. 

As expected, the first few jams were back and forth as both teams played tough defense with slow packs and short scoring runs. Ohio took an early lead 22-7 after 6 jams.

In jam 7, Ohio's Burnadeath got stuck behind the proverbial Steel Curtain for 2 scoring laps, while River Kyx put 13 on the board to bring Steel back into contention. Score 25-20 with Ohio still leading. However, this would be the last time OHRG held the lead.

Two jams later, the Ohio line management failed to field a jammer against Steel's Snot Rocket Science. This mistake proved lethal for Ohio as the penalty box loaded up with Ohio blockers and Snot went the full 2 minutes and put up 39 huge points for Steel, bringing the score 25-68 Steel City.

"I looked at the penalty box and mistook the pivot for the jammer and failed to send out a jammer," explained bench coach Inspector Muffin.

Jam 11, The Smacktivist rallied for a comeback as all of the Steel blockers filled the box. Smack fought hard after serving a quick penalty trip for a back block, but was sprung early when Steel's Kyx went for a back block of her own. Twenty-one points by The Smacktivist closed the gap 46-72.

Steel took the next 7 lead jams in a row and it was jam 16 before Kitty Liquorbottom could grab the lead for Ohio. However, she had to call it quickly after only 2 points scored.

Steel would continue to run hit-it-and-quit-it jams every time they obtained lead; grinding the Ohio jammers to a scoring halt while inching up their own score 4 or 5 points at time.

In the final jam of the first half, The Smacktivist was able to obtain lead over Kyx, putting 4 points on the board and calling it to bring the midway score to Ohio 69, Steel 112.

Although the penalties at halftime were fairly and evenly distributed between the two teams, Ohio jammer Kitty Liquorbottom was sitting on 5 and blocker Ena Flash already had 6. Steel's blocker Ally McKill had also made 5 trips to the sin bin.

The second half started with Steel continuing their domination of earning lead jammer. A forearm by Snot Rocket allowed Burnadeath to take advantage of a much-needed power jam, but after only 9 scoring points she committed a track cut and flipped the power jam to Steel's advantage.

The Smacktivist earned lead in jam 8 and a Steel official review following the jam requested a "blocking a downed skater penalty" against the Ohio jammer. This review was won by Steel and Snot Rocket Science went to the line unopposed. However, Ohio's Lora "Outta My" Wayman snuck a track-cut soul crush on Snot and sent her to the penalty box. After 2 minutes, the score had closed to within 38.

Burnadeath went to work adding 15 of her own, bringing the score to 138 Ohio, 168 Steel.   It seemed the Steel team was losing their steam as Rock Hard Candy was sent to the penalty box in the following jam on a back block. Ohio's Sarah Bruce, in only her 2nd jam of the game, earned lead, scored 5 points, and called it off.

In the following jam, River Kyx answered with 9 of her own while Burnadeath got stuffed.

Penalties started to play a big part of the game when Steel's Athena fouled out of the game and several players from both teams were riding dirty with 6. 

Jam 15 put The Smacktivist on the line unopposed for 5 short seconds, but they could not grab lead as Snot burst from the penalty box, grabbed lead, and then started playing defense on The Smacktivist. Score 158 Ohio, 181 Steel.

Meanwhile, Ohio blocker Ena Flash became the first Ohio blocker to foul out with 7.

With 6 minutes left in the game and Ohio still down by 20'ish, Ohio requested and won yet another official review obtaining a track cut against Steel's jammer Rock Hard Candy, leaving The Smacktivist on the line to play hero for their team. And hero up they did, after putting up 15 points Ohio was within 12 of catching Steel.

Ohio lost another blocker to foul outs when Wayman got her 7th. And her pack started short allowing Snot to earn lead, pull 4 points and call it. Kitty Liquorbottom then joined her fouled-out friends in the locker room after earning her 7th, as well, with only 2 minutes left to play.

Inspector Muffin from the Ohio bench took a well-timed official review to rally his team, now down by only 15 points, with only a single jam left to play. The crowd was screaming as Steel smartly fields Snot against The Smacktivist.

The Smacktivist got lead, but Ohio's Ava Tarr was unable to keep Snot in the pack. Smack looked to run out the clock in a desperate attempt to make the comeback. Snot put an additional lap on The Smacktivist while Ohio blockers loaded the box.

Final score was a very hard-fought 19-point victory for Steel City 206-187. Steel City next plays Nashville in Game 10 at 4:00 pm on Saturday, while Ohio will take on the loser of Game 8 ( Toronto vs. Houston) on Sunday at 10:00 am.

Final Score

(7) Steel City Roller Derby 206
(5) Ohio Roller Girls 187