Windy City Rollers Mon Feb 11 2013

Fury, Hell's Belles Win WCR Home Season Openers

By Bill Mayeroff

One sure thing about roller derby is that things can change quickly and no matter what the score is early, you rarely know what it will look like at the end of the bout.

That much was clear Saturday night, when Windy City Rollers home teams the Manic Attackers and The Fury faced off in the first full bout of the 2013 season.

The Manics jumped ahead early, with jammer Thievin' Tyler scoring 15 in the opening jam. Ska Face, jamming for The Fury, scored 8 before being sent to the penalty box.

The second jam started with Ska Face in the box, which meant a power jam for the Manics. Jammer Zoe Trocious scored another 15 for the Manic Attackers to bring the score to 30-8.

The first 10 minutes were all Manics, as The Fury wrestled with penalty issues. But solid defense by The Fury kept the Manic Attackers from jumping too far ahead.

The Fury took the lead for the first time with just over three minutes left in the first half. Fury jammer and captain Ska Face plowed through the Manic Attackers to score 20, putting the Fury on top 90-89. In the next jam, Moby Nipps score another 8 for The Fury, bringing the score to 98-89 with one jam left in the half.

But the Manic Attackers' blockers held KonichiWOW, jamming for The Fury, scoreless in the last jam while allowing Thievin' Tyler to score 15, putting the Manics up 104-98 at the half.

The second half saw the lead change several times and with just over two minutes left in the game, The Fury were up 183-178. The Fury didn't relinquish the lead again, winning the bout 196-186.

Ska Face said after the bout that even though The Fury wrestled with penalties, the blockers were able to keep the Manics from doing too much damage, even when The Fury didn't have a full pack.

"Our blockers were able to have that penalty kill," she said.

Manic Attackers captain Ruth Enasia said after the bout that the team needs to remember to play conservatively when more than one skater is in the penalty box in order to get back to a full pack as soon as possible.

"When we do have people on penalties, we just need to remember to relax," she said.

Saturday's second bout between the Hell's Belles and the Double Crossers was a different story. The Belles attacked early, getting lead jammer in nine of the first 10 jams and holding the Double Crossers to only two points.

By halftime, the Hell's Belles had hit the century mark, leading 100-17.

The Belles started the second half like they started the first. A 35-0 run gave them a 118-point lead before 10 minutes had passed.

But the Double Crossers were not finished. Joanie Utah took lead jammer and scored 18 to cut the Hell's Belles' lead to 87, 157-70, with 7 minutes and 13 seconds left in the game. But it was too little and the Hell's Belles won 178-74.

Photos by Bill Mayeroff