CNY vs Assault City - 9/19/10

On Sunday, September 19 I made the trip out to Rome to catch Central New York Roller Derby's (CNYRD) last bout of the season.  They were up against Assault City, hailing from Syracuse, for a battle of the "315".  The Hellions actually played both these teams at Empire Skate Showdown (they both beat us), so I especially wanted to take some notes.

One player that really stuck out to me immediately was CNY's Moody Obsession.  Built like a blocker, CNY had her in to jam quite a few times and it seemed like she was able to earn lead jammer more often than not.  She was also very stable - Assault City laid some good hits on her, but she remained on her feet.  And when she wasn't jamming, she was on the track kicking butt as a blocker.  Dang.

Going into the second period, CNYRD was ahead 77 to 32.  Assault City came back in aggressively; Blaze, one of AC's scariest (I mean that in a good way) jammers, earned a power jam and scored 8 points before getting knocked down by the ever pleasant yet extremely dangerous Slay West.

Both teams had impressive pack control, especially when it counted the most.  At another point Assault City found themselves in another power jam situation, and you could tell that CNY was working hard to speed up the pack, but at the same time, Assault City was working on keeping it slow, basically creating a net effect.  Later on, CNY's Farmer's Slaughter found herself in a power jam, but was not able to break through Assault City's strong pack until there were 20 seconds left in the jam.

My favorite player to watch that game, personally, was Pied Viper.  And not so much as a jammer (although she rocked), but as a hard hitting blocker.  WOW!  This girl totally has the idea of swooping in perpendicularly and turning her body at just the right second to execute some perfectly timed hits.

For the last jam, CNY put in Lady Die Mentia to jam.  (Blockers as jammers... I think I have figured out their secret weapon!)  But really, Lady Die bulldozed through the pack, earning lead jammer.  I think she scored a few points but was ultimately sent to the penalty box (I missed what for, though).  Assault City was able to pick up a few more points before the jam clock ran out.  CNY won the game, 146 - 66.

One final comment on the game as whole: it's quite clear that these two teams are very friendly with each other.  There was great display of derby-sisterhood which also makes me happy as a spectator.  Great game and nice job, ladies!