Port Authorities secures a fourth win against CT

May 1, 2011 | WATERBURY, CT.

Twelve hours after a close bout against the Suburban Brawl, the Port Authorities warmed up to play another sanctioned bout against Connecticut’s Stepford Sabotage. These teams know each other well, having played three times previously with the Port Authorities taking the win each time. And our Maine ladies didn’t disappoint. Final score: 174 to 48.

The following recap was written by Mike D.

On Sunday May first the Stepford Sabotage headed to Waterbury for their second closed bout of the season, this time hosting the Maine Port Authorities. The last time that these two teams met in Connecticut, the Maine Port Authorities took the win with a score of 120 to 80. Since that fateful day, Connecticut has brought more skaters into their roster, some of whom show great promise with their mindful strategy and strong skating. Meanwhile, the Maine Rollergirls have been celebrating great success with their team (5 and 2) and have recently advanced from 11th to 9th in the eastern region. Quite an accomplishment, given some of the intense competition here on the East Coast.

While this bout may not have provided that edge of the seat, nail-biting competition that is so desirable in any sport, the action and strategies employed by both team provided great entertainment. Adding to the excitement were the uncommonly short jam lengths (21 in the first half, 20 in the second half) which gave an impression of a higher concentration of action.

Both teams started the bout by sending strong jammers to the line. Black Cherry for Stepford, Grim D. Mise for Maine. At the piercing sound of the whistle, both girls took off – Cherry taking the lead. She squeezed through the pack once, ending the jam promptly as Grim quickly advanced towards a potential scoring pass.

Connecitcut’s lead was short. C. Mya Rage was called out on a major penalty early in the second jam, and Maine skater Polly Gone took advantage of the opening. She scored 19 points, and started a streak that would bring Maine 45 unanswered points – yet not without fight. Ether Bunny provided a beautiful whip for Cherry in the fourth which forced Spry Icicle to end her jam early. The excitement continued in the next jam as Maine jammer Polly Gone dramatically leaping over a pile of skaters, avoiding a massive crash and looping again and again, ultimately scoring 19 more points for her team.

Cherry returned to the line in the 7th jam to earn Connecticut’s second lead jammer status for the bout, but Polly was right on her tail. Still, the CT pack did well to get to the front of the pack letting Cherry score two points before Polly could pass her first opponent. The visitors were quick to regain control however, as their pack hounded first Parker Poison then Murphy’s Outlaw in a 4 on 1 cage of blockers, allowing jammer Polly Gone to circle through as CT’s jammer Rinko Starr had to patiently wait out her time in the penalty box. Returning the favor – just a few jams later the CT blockers had their revenge as Pepper, Cherry, and Ether had a stunning triple hit on Polly giving Murphy’s Outlaw a successful break for lead jammer status.

Still, the Maine Port Authorities continued their point onslaught and by the end of the first half they led 118 to 18.

The two halves of the bout played very differently. Unfortunately, Maine’s star jammer Grim D. Mise pulled her quad in the second half and was forced to sit out. Meanwhile, Connecticut’s half time pep talk worked wonders and the hometown team came back strong securing lead jammer in 6 of the first 8 jams. The points were sparse, but the energy was commendable. Girl Fawkes had two excellent strikes where she successfully knocked the Maine jammer out of bounds and quickly stopped short to force the opposing jammer’s retreat. Shortly thereafter Cherry expertly called off a jam after Maine’s Crystal Whip opened a path for Barbara Ambush to help her limit Cherry’s point earning.

As the time ticked down, the final score stood at 174 to 48 favoring the Maine Port Authorities.
Great skating ladies!

Let’s do Statistics!!

Lead Scorers

The Maine Port Authorities
84 points – Polly Gone (6 lead in 8 jams)
37 points – Barbara Ambush (6 lead in 8 jams)
33 points – Grim D. Mise (7 lead in 13 jams)

The Stepford Sabotage
27 points – Black Cherry (9 lead in 12 jams)
7 points – Luciana Pulverotti (4 lead in 7 jams)
5 points – Pepper Grind’her (1 lead in 3 jams)

As a brief aside, it was fun to see all the skaters join in a massive embrace at the conclusion of the bout. Even after tough battle on the track, Roller Girls truly are a family.

Special thanks to all those individuals who helped make this event go down – especially to Ian Fluenza and NSO Matt for their assistance with CT stats and Punchy O’Guts for her assistance with Maine stats. Finally, a big thank you to CT skater Kitty Bomb who was kind enough to loan me her chair so I could get high quality trackside pictures in a world of comfort.

If you’re interested in learning more about Derby or coming to a CT bout, head on over to CTrollerderby.com. The next bout is a Charity bout to be held on May 14th at the CT Sports Center. What could possibly be better than Roller Derby? Charitable Roller Derby!