ROLLER DERBY: A BASH OF ALL-STAR TEAMS
by JEN PHILION (AKA: Lady Shatterly)
The Salt City Shakers got a taste of what roller derby is like on the West Coast—blazing fast and full of crushing hits—in a 130-92 loss against the Angel City Derby Girls’ all-star team, the Hollywood Scarlets, June 8th at the Utah Olympic Oval.
The Shakers had heard about the Scarlets’ reputation as hard hitters. Several Scarlets players come from a background in the California and Texas velodrome style banked-track leagues; known for their high speeds, agility and roughneck style of play.
The first jam of the bout proved the rumors were true. Shakers jammer Lady Shatterly reached the pack first, but Scarlets blocker Diesel unloaded a jarring “can opener” hit, driving her shoulder back into Lady Shatterly’s chest and knocking her off her feet so hard that Shatterly’s helmet cover came off. Scarlets jammer Estro Jen took advantage, scoring a 4-0 jam.
The Shakers came right back with their own physical play, shutting out Scarlets' Duchess Von Damn as NOS racked up four points.
The first half continued as a back-and-forth struggle. The Shakers defense held tough for several jams at a time as they built a small lead, but the Scarlets found occasional cracks and broke through for big gains, with Estro Jen and Cherrylicious each getting 10-point jams. When NOS went to the penalty box, leaving the Shakers without a jammer, the Scarlets blockers took control of the pack and helped Duchess Von Damn score 11 unanswered points. At the half, the score was Scarlets 51, Shakers 40.
During the halftime break, the Shakers were upbeat. Coach El Brujo praised the team’s efforts. “Overall, this is the best I’ve seen you play,” he said. “We need to continue to match their intensity and not let them dictate what happens in the pack.”
The Scarlets made some halftime adjustments of their own, and came out focused on helping their own jammers score consistently. Armed with great skating skills, their pivots determined they could control the pack better by skating backwards to watch the action unfold and communicating with their blockers.
NOS, who led the Shakers with 29 points in the first half, started the half with an 8-4 jam against Estro Jen. But over the next five hard-fought jams, the Scarlets extended their lead by another 10 points. Then they blew the game open when Shakers jammer Lady Shatterly got sent to the penalty box, leaving Duchess Von Damn free to rack up a 15-4 point jam.
In this hard-hitting game, the refs were kept busy handing out penalties. Shakers coach El Brujo got in on the action, screaming at the refs after Estro Jen leveled NOS with what he thought was an illegal hit. After the coach threw his clipboard and a chair onto the track, he was ejected from the game, and Shakers captain Lady Shatterly served the major penalty in the box.
As the clock wound down on the Scarlets’ 130-92 victory, hundreds of appreciative audience members applauded the L.A. girls’ victory, then erupted with cheers and crowded around the edge of the track when the Shakers took the floor for high-fives and handshakes. Salt City Derby Girls fans agreed that it was the most exciting and entertaining bout they had seen so far, and first-time bout-goers enthusiastically said they would be back for more.
“That was a tough game,” said Scarlets captain Duchess Von Damn. “We’re glad we came to Utah and found some great competition.”
Shakers co-captain Miss Disco Bliss said, “I think we definitely learned a lot from playing Angel City. That’s one of the best things about playing a team you’ve never faced before. There are a lot of things they did that we can incorporate into our own game.”
Angel City Hollywood Scarlets 130, Salt City Shakers 92
Leading Scorers and points:
Scarlets
Estro Jen: 52
Duchess Von Damn: 36
Cherrylicious: 23
Shakers
NOS: 59
Lady Shatterly: 19
Dirty Pirate Hooker: 13
Penalty Leaders:
Scarlets
Hard Cora: 5 times in the penalty box
Diesel: 4 times
Go Go Gidget: 4 times
Shakers
Lady Shatterly: 7 times in the penalty box
Miss Disco Bliss: 4 times
Season Opener: Death Dealers Kill Sisters of No Mercy
A stifling defense and a stellar debut performance lifted the Death Dealers to victory over the Sisters of No Mercy in a hard-fought Salt City Derby Girls league bout at the Utah Olympic Oval on May 24.
The Sisters entered the bout with some of the most feared hitters in the league, and used that to their advantage early. They captured lead jammer status in six of the first nine jams by tripping up the Dealers’ speedier jammers, and strategically called jams off early to prevent the Dealers from scoring.
The result was long stretches of 0-0 jams. At halftime, the score was only 27-20 for the Dealers, but the crowd was pleased with a lot of big hits from Sisters captain Toots Sweet and Dealers pivot Movin’ Violation.
The Dealers came into the second half with one main goal: Capture lead jammer status and start scoring points. The Sisters began the half with a lineup of their strongest blockers: Dr. Pain, Alexa Rough, Queen Anne’s Revenge and Toots Sweet. But the Dealers countered with a strong lineup of their own, and jammer Lady Octane forced the Sisters’ Violence Vicksen to call the jam off at 0-0.
Then the tide began to turn, as the Dealers defense locked in on Sisters' jammers, holding them scoreless for stretches of four and six jams at a time. Meanwhile, Dealers rookie jammer Moonraker began breaking through the tiring Sisters blockers, with jams of 5, 6, 7 and 9 points to help the Dealers pull away.
Moonraker finished the bout with 36 points, while Lady Shatterly scored 20 and Lady Octane got 12 for the Dealers. The Sisters’ leading scorers were Violence Vicksen (16 points), Queen Anne’s Revenge (15) and Ashes to Ashes (8).
“There weren’t a lot of points being scored, but every time we looked at the scoreboard, the Dealers were further ahead,” said Dr. Pain.
The final score ended with Death Dealers 68, Sisters of No Mercy 39.
Dealers captain Lady Octane was thrilled with her team’s performance. “We did a really good job of getting refocused at halftime,” she said. “This was the first bout for half of our players, and it’s exciting to see what we have to build on for the rest of this season.