Roller Derby Recap: Rose City Rolls Over Rocky Mountain


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Portland roller derby fans saw another dominant performance by an undefeated local squad, and another statement win from the Rose City Rollers’ All-Star team, the Wheels of Justice.

Wednesday, March 25: High Rollers 249, Break Neck Betties 171

It looked, for a while, like things might be different this time.

The High Rollers were indeed rolling high into this game, with a 4-0 season on the books thus far. The Break Neck Betties came in with something to prove, with a record of 1-3. By jam seven, the Betties held a lead of 47-27. Four jams later, however, the High Rollers took the lead, and they wouldn’t let it go for the remainder of the game. Jammer penalties down the stretch killed any hope of a comeback for the 2014 league champs, as the High Rollers were able to keep pull away and keep their perfect record.

MVP Blockers: Heidi Go Geek (HR) and Chest-Nutz (BNB)
MVP Jammers: Avalanche (HR) and Northern Lights Out (BNB)

Friday, April 3: Rose City Heartless Heathers 252, Jet City Camero Harem 142

In general, the Rose City home teams (Break Neck Betties, Guns ‘N’ Rollers, Heartless Heathers, and High Rollers) play each other, while the All-Stars play teams from other cities. Once in a while, however, there’s room in the schedule to invite other teams to play one of the home teams for fun. This Friday night, the Camero Harem, a home team from Everett, WA’s Jet City Roller Girls, came down to play Portland’s ladies in blue. Our hometown Heartless Heathers got a chance to try out some new faces at the jammer’s position, and came away with the win in a hard-hitting bout.

MVP Blockers: Mace Ventura (HH) and Steel Katcussion (CH)
MVP Jammers: Screaming Beaver (HH) and Razor Wreckher (CH)

Saturday, April 4: (2) Rose City Rollers All-Stars 356, (12) Rocky Mountain Rollergirls 139

In their first WFTDA play of the season, Rose City was able to show that they’re still a force to be reckoned with. While Rose has lost a few key players from their roster since 2014 Championships, other top teams have lost even more. It’s posed to be a season of change, and Rose City is ready to pounce on the opportunity.

Rocky Mountain is changing, too, and has undergone a few roster revolutions since taking home the Hydra in 2010. They’re currently ranked #12 in the WFTDA, and were a clear underdog coming in to this game. Still, this league has a reputation for being tough and athletic, and they didn’t disappoint in this outing.

Rose City was able to stretch out their jammer rotation to four players: Scald Eagle, Licker ‘N’ Split, Loren Mutch, and Feliz Brutality. Rose City was able to get lead jammer the majority of the time, and when they did, they didn’t always follow the standard operating procedure of calling off the jam as soon as the opposing jammer was about to score. Instead, they ran the jams longer, trusting the Rose blockers to hold the Rocky jammers, a strategy that a longer jammer bench will allow. Rocky attempted to counter this strategy with numerous star passes*, stashes, and attempts, with mixed results.

A Rose City halftime lead of 160-76 wasn’t insurmountable by any means, but the Wheels of Justice kept building on their successes from the first half to increase their scoring margin, and Rocky Mountain wasn’t able to keep up any momentum from the early going.

MVP Blockers: Nisbet-Smith (RCR) and Triple Shot Misto (RMRG)
MVP Jammers:Loren Mutch (RCR) and Sweet Mary Pain (RMRG)

What’s Next
Home Season: The High Rollers will take on the Guns ‘N’ Rollers on Wednesday, April 15th in a limited access bout that will be streamed online. Watch the Rose City Rollers Facebook page (LINK) for a

WFTDA Action: The Rose City Rollers All-Stars will take on The Big O tournament down the road in Eugene. The Wheels of Justice will be be playing #10 Philly Roller Derby, #5 Texas Rollergirls , and #13 Atlanta Rollergirls, and scoping out rival #3 Bay Area Derby.

*Star Pass: The jammer can pass the starred helmet cover to her pivot, making the pivot the jammer for the remainder of the jam. This is done when the jammer is spent, or strategically if the jammer is behind a gnarly wall and the pivot is in front.

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