The Missyfits ended last season having never won a bout, but in a Sunday night shocker they overcame a substantial 20-point Dragon Diva lead in a bout that came down to the last seconds of the last jam. The Dragon Divas entered Sunday's matchup undefeated at 2-0, but after the Missyfits' last-ditch heroics, the two teams now share the top slot in the ACRG standings with identical records of 2-1.
1st periodBoth teams took a bit to warm up their skates in the first period. Five minutes into the contest, no points were on the board for either team, though the Divas' Mummy Dearest was already vocal. The Missyfits took a short-lived 11-4 lead with 13:14 in the period, but at the 8:58 mark the Divas seized back the lead. Divas' jammer Miss Treator straightened out Missyfits' jammer Heidi Explosive's (left) signature blond braids as the two toed the jammer line waiting for the whistle. A fine example of good sportsmanship, Miss Treator is often friendly and warm with opposing jammers as they toe the line, slamming opponents to the track after the whistle soundes. Jams featuring Explosive and Treator skating against one another proved to be the most exciting, as both are swift jammers that rack up the points.
Intermission
The period closed with the Divas' Killa Byte crashing hard into the wall in front of us. I winced; she got up quickly but you knew she had to be hurting. The score stood at 33-27 in favor of the Divas at the end of the first period, and music by Mechanical Walking Robot Boy commenced. During intermission I played the usual catch-up with many of the players. Killa Byte was fine but her skate wasn't - she had to get a broken axle fixed before the next period. I found out why Missyfits' captain Kitty Glitter was shouting instructions to her team from the sidelines; her knee popped out of socket and she'll find out how serious the injury is this week. The Divas' Pain Jane relocated to Austin with hopes of playing for the banked-track league, and ACRG Marketing/PR coordinator Megan "Megahurtz FM" Cullum will be leaving the Alamo City for the Big Apple and a job promotion within two weeks.
2nd period
After being up only five points at the end of the 1st, the Divas began to run away with the lead. The scoreboard read 60-38 at one point near the 10-minute mark, but the Missyfits made up some ground and the deficit hovered at 10-15 for most of the period. After a few hard falls, Miss Treator and Heidi Explosive among the crash victims, the announcers piped up, "I smell some bad blood brewing," and it soon became evident on the track. The Missyfits had a hard time getting their jammers through the pack while the Diva blockers maintained their lead and the "wall of red" for much of the night. The score stood at 78-63 Divas as the Missyfits' Satan Speed looked shook up and rolled slowly to the sidelines at the end of the period.
3rd periodWe overheard Missyfits' blocker Osa Peligrosa (right) say that she'd been triple-teamed all night. Peligrosa came back strong in the last period, knocking numerous opponents out hard and taking some nasty spills herself as the Divas retaliated. Both teams were down players due to stints in the penalty box, but the Divas were outnumbered and Explosive took advantage by racing through the pack to pile up points. At 11:05 the deficit was cut to nine, with the Divas leading 91-82. Again Explosive and Treator were pitted against each other as each team scrambled for points behind their fastest jammers. Peligrosa practically took on the entire Diva team late in the period, knocking skaters out right and left. At 97-101 Divas it was anyone's bout with 3:25 left. Treator went back in as jammer to pad the small lead, and in the midst of scuffling and scrambling Mummy Dearest and Treator wound up in the penalty box. Explosive was the only jammer left on the track able to score, and the Missyfits regained the lead for the first time since the beginning of the bout. With 1:05 left, Treator burst out of the penalty box for the last jam, but the Missyfits' blockers preserved the wall and the lead as time ran out. Black-and-purple pandemonium ensued, and the entire Diva team lined up on the track to congratulate the Missyfits on the 103-100 win.
The Missyfits evened the standings at 2-1 with the Divas, as the Prim Reaper's round out the league at 0-2 and prepare to take on the Missyfits in next month's matchup. Four months into the ACRG's second season, the Missyfits have shaken up expectations with hard fought bouts and two well-deserved notches in the win column.
