Salt Lake City, UT

By Lois Slain

Host league Wasatch Roller Derby (6 seed) picked up their first win of the international 2014 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Salt Lake City, Utah, in front of an enthusiastic home crowd Saturday, fending off a tough challenge from 8 seed Oklahoma Victory Dolls, from Okalahoma City, Oklahoma.

Photo by Regularman

The teams seemed very evenly matched for much of the first half, but a slew of penalties by Oklahoma’s jammers allowed Wasatch to take a solid lead.

It was Wasatch’s Dr. Octopushy who picked up the first jammer penalty of the game in the very first jam, allowing Oklahoma to start off with a 10-0 lead. The Victory Dolls quickly picked up lead in the next jam, but a track cut allowed jammer Alli3 Kitt3n and her blockers to give Wasatch their first lead of the game, 18-17.

Despite another Wasatch power jam in Jam 4, the score remained close, as both teams streamed blockers into the penalty box, alternating pack advantage. Just under halfway through the period, Wasatch’s defense started to settle in, holding Czech 1-2 as their jammer put up multiple scoring passes, something Oklahoma’s offensive blocking had prevented in earlier jams.

In Jam 13, Wasatch got their first chance to break away when strong defense and another jammer penalty allowed Dr. Octopushy to put up 25 points. By the end of the period, Oklahoma gave the home team six power jams, and Wasatch drove up the points to a 107-59 lead. Wasatch jammers only went to the penalty box twice during the period.

Oklahoma didn’t start off the second half on any better penalty footing, as T-Pain headed straight for the penalty box in the first jam. While they recovered from that blow and started to regain momentum at times, continued penalty problems kept Oklahoma from catching up to Wasatch. Oklahoma again had six jammer penalties in the second half, and 52 total penalties over the course of the game.

After top jammer Czech 1-2 removed herself from play due to injury in Jam 13, picking up a penalty in the process, the Oklahoma team seemed to stall out. Despite losing two blockers to foul-outs, Wasatch dominated on both defense and offense in the final minutes, running up the score to 258-138.

Wasatch moves on to play Arch Rival Rollergirls, of St. Louis, Missouri, at 6 p.m. MDT Saturday for a chance to compete for 5th Place. Oklahoma will play Tri-City Roller Derby at 10 a.m. MDT Sunday in the 9th/10th Place game.

Final Score

(8) Oklahoma Victory Dolls 138
(6) Wasatch Roller Derby 258