Kitchener-Waterloo, ON

by Vile Love It

The 5 seed Chicago Outfit Roller Derby (Chicago, IL) met the 8 seed Demolition City Roller Derby (Evansville, IN) in the bid for seventh place in the final day of roller derby tournament action. The 60 minutes of play continued the fast packs and scrum-style blocking along with toe-stop-dancing jammers battling with fast, agile juking that has been showcased by all the skaters throughout this tournament.

Photo byCory Layman

Throughout the first period of play, Chicago was able to frequently recycle Demolition’s jammers, even when Demolition served up a blocker to play offense.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s regular rotation of jammers was able work through Demolitions walls. Halfway through the first period, Chicago had a solid lead of 45-8.

Chicago kept a tight reign on the scoreboard as they limited Demolition’s scoring capability with their tight cycling walls. Demolition rotated through seven jammers before Stepheree was able to successfully navigate the Chicago defense. With a successful power jam, Stepheree pulled her team to within 27 points at the half (82-55).

During the second half, Demolition relied on the regular jammer rotation of Stepheree, Steel Stitches, and Shelby N. Pain, with a few fillers, and whittled away at Chicago’s lead. Ten minutes into the period, Demolition had closed the gap to 16 points.

Demolition held the edge in the penalty game. Chicago had 44 box trips (11 jammer) and Demolition had 37 trips (10 jammer). In addition, Demolition won lead jam 20 times to Chicago’s 19, but it wasn’t enough to help Demolition edge ahead of Chicago on the scoreboard.

“This is the first tournament we’ve skated in and we weren’t prepared as far as our stamina and endurance. These skaters are tough,” said Demolition’s B. Dawn Kadonk. “We are really proud for being able to keep the score close in all of our games. Just being in this tournament was an awesome experience.”

With 3 minutes left in the bout and Chicago’s Lola Blow on the track, Demolition’s Steel Stitches hit the box on back-to-back penalties and Chicago pulled the train out of the station.

Even Lola’s box trip didn’t help the team from Evansville since all of Chicago’s blockers were on the track to stop Steel Stitches. When the track quieted, Chicago had a 44-point lead and there was 52 seconds left on the clock.

Demolition did not give up throughout the last jam. Shelby N. Pain earned lead jam and continued to battle through much of the two minutes. She finally hit her hips and ended the game.

“During our season we worked very hard on our teamwork and our trust with each other. Our entire season has been focused on trying to figure out how to maintain trust, tighten up our walls, and increase our communication,” said Chicago’s The Joan Ranger. “The entire tournament was about fine-tuning those skills and never letting up.”

The Chicago Outfit Roller Derby took seventh place in the tournament while Demolition City Roller Derby took eighth place.

Final Score:

Demolition City Roller Derby 150

The Chicago Outfit Roller Derby 189