Mason-Dixon Hosts Men's / Women's Doubleheader Action

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Sun Jun 21 2009 11:42pm

HAGERSTOWN, MD -- On Sunday June 21, the New York Shock Exchange once again defends their undefeated record against a persistent challenger as they take on Baltimore's Harm City Homicide in a 40 minute match in Hagerstown, MD. It's the first part of a men's / women's doubleheader as the hosting Mason-Dixon Roller Vixens of Hagerstown get it on with the Wilmington Ruff Rollers of Delaware.

The Shock Exchange won their first public bout against Pioneer Valley Roller Derby in April 2007, and ever since then they've been beating back attempts from the men's teams in the area to end their win streak, which currently stands at 8 wins in public events. They've taken down PVRD four times, the Homicide twice, the Connecticut Death Quads once and the Midwest Men's Roller Derby once (in a blink-and-you-missed-it 10 minute halftime expo.)

The last time NYSE and the Homicide met, in the first 60 minute men's flat-track matchup in June 2008, the Shock Exchange completely dominated  a 103-9 first half but the Homicide noticeably regained their footing in a 44-40 second half -- while the final score remained lopsided for NYSE at 147-49, the final 30 minutes remained a confidence builder for a Homicide team that hadn't won a game so far.

After following that up with a narrow 80-73 loss to Pioneer Valley, Homicide has been on a winning streak with two consecutive big wins over the Connecticut Death Quads (72-23 in 20 minutes, and 145-29 in 40) and one narrow one over the Diamond City Death Kings (90-86 in 40 minutes.) That leaves them one game from .500 with a 3-4 all-time record, and they hope to ride the momentum to finally stop New York on Sunday.

NYSE's most recent outing was their fourth win over Pioneer Valley, 115-66 in May -- although PVRD did make a big second-half run that shrank a 57-16 halftime lead all the way to 68-60 before NYSE pulled it together.

The Homicide's roster is slightly smaller than it was for the 2008 meeting with NYSE; that time HCH suited 13, while this time it'll be 11. Carpe Demon, Man Rayge, Carnage Asada and Natty Bones have all retired while Otto Erotic has been on extended leave; stepping up are 2009 additions Gearhead, Jack of Hurts and hard-hitting Albino Wookie, playing in his first bout for Harm City after spending time with Puget Sound Derby Outcasts in the Pacific Northwest.

The NYSE puts out two debuting players in Red Five and Adam Antichrist, and also is skating Teen Wolf again, who was out with a broken leg the last time they faced Homicide, and Jefferee, also not on the 2008 roster. Players not returning from the most recent meeting are MotorPsycho, Angelo Death and T-Stop Tornado.

Virginia Slim 523 // Sin Diesel 1* // Justice Feelgood Marshall 1954 // Sex Ed 101 // Deutsch Bag 9 // Hung Solo YT-1300 // Magnificent Bastard 1.618 //  Groper Cleavage (infinity) // Gearhead 88 // Albino Wookie // Jack of Hurts

Abe Drinkin' Four Score and Seven // Adam Antichrist 666 // Darth Invader 4ce // Filthy McNasty 61 // Flames Cagney 1000 // Jefferee 420 // Jonathan R 6 // Maulin' Brando 14 // Patrick Bateman West 81st // PsychoBilly 13 // Rinkworm 11 // Red Five 5 // Teen Wolf ||| // Wolfgang Von Stomp 40th

Mason Dixon Roller Vixens vs. Wilmington Ruff Rollers

The women's bout that follows features a young team that hasn't had much luck on the track, the hosting Mason-Dixon Roller Vixens. MDRV has been bouting for almost exactly a year, with their debut coming on June 6, 2008, but is still looking for their first win after a lengthy series of blowouts. Their best showing to date was a 86-70 loss to Steel City's B-team in November 2008, but this year each of their three bouts have seen B-teams from WFTDA leagues dropping upwards of 200 points on them: Harrisburg's B team won 218-122 in March, Dutchland's B-team won 211-43 in April, and DC's B-team won 210-54 in May. MDRV holds an 0-6 all time record.

Their opponents, the Wilmington Ruff Rollers, have been around a year and a half longer with a debut bout in January 2007; they've amassed a record of 8 wins and 9 losses in that time, almost exclusively against non- WFTDA teams. Their single bout against a WFTDA all-star team was a 133-110 loss to Long Island in June of 2008; this year, they've won 3 in a row, the most recent being a 219-79 spanking of North Jersey Roller Derby. They're entering the mid-point of an ambitious 11-game season with this bout against MDRV.

While full game rosters weren't available at this time, MDRV looks to rely heavily on tiny but dangerous multiple-threat Skid Ho, speedy enough to be an A jammer and nimble enough to be a frustrating positional blocker. In the pack, MDRV's HeineQueen and Lucretia McEvil like to mix it up while extremely talented skater Poison Princess can use impressive bursts of speed to chase down pack escapists.

Over on the Wilmington side, Ali Kaholic and founding member Lolli Dagger appear to be the only longtime WCRR skaters still listed as rostered, so it's difficult to draw conclusions about WCRR's current strengths from their history ... though the 3 game winning streak would suggest they've found a stride.