Saint Paul, MN

by The Oxford Commakaze

The hometown Minnesota Rollergirls of St. Paul, Minn., (Omaha #3) jumped to a crowd-pleasing early lead with a hard-fought 4-0 opening jam over the Texas Rollergirls of Austin, Texas, (Dallas #2) pushing for more than 40 seconds before Jacked Pipes was crowned lead jammer. Even the most diehard Minnesota fan likely expected that lead would be shortlived — after all, the Texas Rollergirls have a superstar roster and a top-5 ranking. Instead, Minnesota dug its claws into the lead and held it all the way through the first half, although the score remained far from secure.

by Shelly Shankya

Game 3 of the 2015 International WFTDA Championships was the fastest of the games so far, featuring speedy jukes by jammers from Arch Rival Roller Girls of St. Louis, Mo. (#3 D1 Tucson, #10) and big, blocking bumps from the Jacksonville RollerGirls of Jacksonville, Flo. (#2 D1 Jacksonville, #8). With six lead changes in the first period, the crowd at The Legendary Roy Wilkins Auditorium remained mesmerized by the action on the track.

by The Oxford Commakaze

When the Bay Area Derby Girls of Oakland, Calif., played Denver Roller Derby of Denver, Colo., at the Hometown Throwdown in June, Denver eked out a 24-point win. But when it counted the most, the California team pulled off a 179-148 win at the 2015 International WFTDA Championships. The Bay Area Derby Girls move on to play the Rose City Rollers on Saturday at 12 p.m.

by Shelly Shankya

The first jam between Angel City Derby Girls of Los Angeles, Calif., (Omaha #2) and the Rat City Rollergirls of Seattle, Wash., (Dallas #3) was a grinding slog of restlessness; the locked-in-action pack made a full rotation of the track only after 1:40 of the first jam had elapsed. Rat City’s Luna Negra took lead jammer but promptly got a back block call on her first scoring pass, leaving Satan's Little Helper a chance to skate unopposed and score 13 points. The jam lasted its full two minutes and, despite the jammer penalty, the scoreboard read only a two-point differential.

By The Oxford Commakaze

In the first Division 2 upset at the 2015 International WFTDA Championships, the Sacred City Derby Girls (#2 seed from the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs Detroit) shoved past the Kansas City Roller Warriors (#1 seed from the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs Cleveland). The rankings-breaking win guaranteed a rematch of the nail-biter 5-point championship game from the Detroit playoffs at the Division 2 Championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m. CST.