Omaha, NE

By Shelly Shankya

Game 1 of the 2015 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Omaha, Nebraska, featured local favorites No Coast Derby Girls from Lincoln, Neb. (#10) against Helsinki Roller Derby of Helsinki, Finland (#7). The hometown advantage worked in Lincoln's favor, but only for so long. In the last jam, despite a back block call on Helsinki's jammer Maiju Rinne, the ladies from Finland managed a comeback to negate a No Coast upset.

While the arena slowly filled with fans, the action on the track was abustle with hits, whips, and star passes. Size mattered in the first half, and the women from the Midwest used their stature to shut down a late-period surge by the Helsinki skaters. Despite grabbing lead in the first jam, Helsinki dropped three points to the No Coast Wolf Pack as Flash Gloria nabbed four points. The lead the ladies from Lincoln managed to garner in the first jam continued through the bulk of the first period until a 40-10 point run by Helsinki with just 7:40 minutes left in the period.

Blockers for No Coast put on a clinic, trouncing the short Helsinki bench (the players from Finland fielded only 13 skaters in Game 1). Led by captain Kelly Ripa-Nipalov, No Coast blockers Hulk Tinka, Stormstriss, and Mia Leevastitch, held jammers on the track repeatedly, especially during a 30-12 point run in the middle of the first period. They continued their fierce blocking, despite pack advantages going to the women from Finland. That's not to say Helsinki blockers weren't fighting on the track; blockers Suominen and Saxelin managed to make it possible for the Finland jammers to gain lead jammer status 13 of the 24 jams in the first period.

An illegal star pass and a back block by Flash Gloria in the next jam gave Helsinki jammer Varpu Knuttila a chance at a 14-point jam. The lead shift was all but guaranteed for Helsinki until a track cut by Maiju Rinne in the last jam of the period started jammer Slam Anderson on the path to a 24-point jam. The ladies from Lincoln went into half with a 15-point lead, 91-76. The time in the locker room for Helsinki, however, was about regaining their mental focus.

"We realized that we needed to keep our own, calm game," Helsinki captain and blocker Erwes said. "We practice this game five times a week, sometimes more, and it is a game that we know. We had to play what we know."

The second period was similar to the first, in that Helsinki picked up lead jammer 13 times, and the blockers from No Coast continued to lay a hurting on the skaters from Finland. The difference, however, was in the number of lead changes. In the first, Helsinki pulled off one lead change, but in the second, they managed two, the most significant in the waning seconds of the game. With scoreless jams by the handfuls, it looked like Lincoln would roll away with an upset. Consistency, though, made it possible for Helsinki to come back. The team, though fielding their same three-jammer rotation, managed to pull off a lead change in the middle of the period, 136-134, after a 14-point jam from T. Saxelin. Lincoln answered the shift with a 26-1 point exchange over the course of the next seven jams.

It looked like Linocln had all but sealed the deal to advance to play Angel City Derby Girls (#2) in Game 4, but a 13-point jam from T. Saxelin, followed by 15 points from Rinne, put the Fins within striking distance and led to a slim 2-point margin in the game's penultimate jam. Helsinki managed its timeouts and official review to their advantage to slow the momentum and keep the lead within its grasp. The last jam of the game, the determining jam of Game 1, saw No Coast veteran jammer Flash Gloria against Rinne, and as Rinne committed a back block just after nabbing lead jammer, it looked like No Coast simply needed to play with the consistency they showed throughout the game. A star pass from jammer Flash to pivot Brooke N Hearts, however, led to Lincoln's demise. Helsinki blockers Suominen, Ojala, and Kyyro waterfalled with aplomb, holding Brooke to a mere 5 points while jammer Rinne came out of the box to score 15.

As the final whistle blew, the crowd sat in shock as their Nebraska favorites fell to the skaters from Finland by a mere 8 points, 200-192.

"We just do our best to prepare, and we practice for every scenario," Erwes said. "Even in tense moments, we rely on our coaches to influence us. We trust in our team and our coaches, and we try to not to worry about the clock. We just play our own calm game."

Helsinki Roller Derby (#7) moves on to play Angel City Derby Girls (#2) in Game 4 at 4 pm CDT on Friday, while No Coast Derby Girls (#10) moves to the consolation bracket to play the loser of Game 6 on Saturday at noon.

Final Score

Helsinki Roller Derby (#7) 200
No Coast Derby Girls (#10) 192