Montréal, QC

By Shelly Shankya

Texas Rollergirls of Austin, Texas, USA (seed #2, WFTDA #6) took a firm stance against the skaters from Bay Area Derby of San Francisco, California, USA (#3) in Game 9 of the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Montréal. With jammers who managed to sneak to the outside of the BAD’s walls, the godmothers of roller derby assured their spot in the Championship game with a 227-81 win.

Photo by Duane Baker Photography

The game started with Texas’s Fifi Nomenon earning a misconduct penalty that put Bay Area on a power jam for jammer Pressure Cooker. Her five points, followed by four more from Huck Sinn, gave the BAD skaters an easy start and the lead. That lead lasted only those two jams, however, as Texas came back and stole the show. Freight Train, who had a 142-point game on Friday, put the Texecutioners on the board with 12 points, followed by a 30-8 scoring streak that put Texas in the lead 42-17.

Double penalties on jammer Huck Sinn – a track cut and skating out of bounds – sent the Texecutioners on a comfortable run, holding BAD scoreless for the following six jams, during which time they spread the gap to 63 points. Blockers Barbara Ambush, Stone Her, Jackie Daniels, and CC Boom led the blocking charge for Texas, breaking through the BAD four-wall when necessary. The All Stars used short plows and strong shoulder contact to hold Texas jammers as often as possible. It was a strategy that came up short until Brawllen Angel picked up 13 points coming off two trips to the box as pivot-turned-jammer. By the end of the half, Brawllen Angel had five penalties. Bay Area picked up some momentum, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Texecutioners from breaking the century mark comfortably with a 20-point jam from Hauss the Boss. The period came to a close with Texas firmly in the lead, 110-42.

BAD made some adjustments during the half, and the adjustments netted a gain in their favor; they scored 21 points in the opening three jams of the second period. That gain was made more attainable by two trips to the box by veteran jammer Bloody Mary; BAD blocker Demanda Riot forced a cut, and that was followed by a back block penalty. Bloody Mary didn’t let the penalties ruffle her feathers, however; she came out of the box to gain lead and 17 points in the following jam. Texas settled into their second half play, and BAD stayed at 68 points while the team was blanked for eight jams.

Photo by Marc-Antoine Vachon

With just over 10 minutes of play left in the game, things got messy: six jammer penalties in under two minutes. These penalties were split, however, with four for Bay Area and two for Texas. Jammer Olivia Shootin’ John picked up a cut and low block, while jammer Eva Menace landed a forearm followed by an illegal procedure, and Murderyn Monroe cut the track after taking the star cover from Eva Menace. Bay Area continued to feature star passes throughout the second half of play; Brawllen Angel took the cover, as did Skatelyn and Murderyn Monroe. The change of jammers, however, did little to hold the lead from Texas, as the ladies in black and red continued to hack at the spread, widening it to 146 points by the game’s conclusion. A confident Fifi Nomenon watched the clock tick down in the final jam and called it off, securing the Texecutioners’ trip to Championships in November.

Texas will play the winner of the London vs. Montréal game for the Championship title at the tournament; that game will occur at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. Bay Area will play the loser of London vs. Montréal for third on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

Final Score

Texas Rollergirls ( #2) 227
Bay Area Derby (#3) 81