#15 Steel City Repels #18 Cincinnati, 168-139

By Michael Frighten'd, Last updated Fri Aug 26 2011 4:04am

PITTSBURGH, PA -- From the moment the main bout of the Steel Hurtin' versus the Black Sheep began, it was clear that the energy levels would be high and remain that way. Cincinnati fell into a 71-34 hole just before halftime, but roared back in the second to narrow the score to 77-74 early in the half and 113-109 late in the half. However, Steel City never gave back the lead after the fifth jam and rode two late-game big jams to a 168-139 win.

Cincinnati leapt out to a quick lead as jammer K Lethal shrugged off a hit from Athena to scamper for a quick 4 points. Hannah Ouchocinco followed with 3 of her own as Nuk'em nailed the Steel City jammer, Mean Burrito. As the pack sped, Wheezy increased the early Cincinnati lead to 11-0 after only three and a half minutes. In the fifth jam, Athena and Double Destroyer opened a hole for 'snot rocket science to slip through ahead of Hannah Ouchocinco, who hit the closing gap hard enough to earn a trip to the penalty box. As her blockers goated Karma Krash, bringing the pack to a halt, 'snot rocket science showed off the speed and agility that got her named to Team USA in the Derby World Cup and scored 23 on the powerjam to give the Steel Hurtin' a lead that would bend but never break. Defense for both teams highlighted by Friction VixXxen for Pittsburgh and candyKICKass! for Cincy kept the game under control and the score read 30-13 for the home team midway through the first half.

The Steel Hurtin' blockers continued a twelve-minute run to keep the Black Sheep off the scoreboard as jammers Hurricane Heather and Mean Burrito methodically added a few points here and there despite the strong efforts of Sk8r-Kinney and Buckhead Betty. With 8:30 to go in the half, Pittsburgh seemed to have control of the bout at 53-14, and after trading powerjams (20-0 for Cincy and 14-0 for Steel) the lead was 71-34 with 4 minutes left in the half. But K Lethal had a critical moment in the final jam of the half by beating 'snot rocket science in a jammer-on-jammer battle which sent the Steel City jammer to the box followed by almost the entire pack. As the half ticked down, K Lethal rattled off 24 unanswered points through a sparse crowd for a halftime score of 77-58, Steel Hurtin'.

The second half began with the Black Sheep continuing their furious come-from-behind assault. K Lethal shot through for a quick 4. As the Shocker went to the box for Steel City, Hannah Ouchocinco powerjammed another 12. With that, it was only the good penalty-killing front wall of Friction VixXxen, J-Bomb, and the Crippler which preserved the scant lead, now down to 77-74.

After a little bit of breathing room was added, Karma Krash and Penn Tupanga seemed to have lead jammer Hurricane Heather in check as Hannah Ouchocinco's 6 threatened to tie the game. But a great block by 'snot rocket science cleared almost the entire back of the pack and Hurricane Heather struck for 12. With 20 minutes to go, the level of contact intensified. Mean Burrito leapt and dodged her way to lead jammer despite the relentless efforts of Sk8r-Kinney, scoring 7 more to break the century mark as Bonecrusher, La Diabla*, 'snot rocket science, and the Shocker shut out Wheezy. The next jam, Nuk'em delivered a tremendous hit to the Shocker that appeared to be above the jammer's shoulders and, while play continued without interruption, emotions bubbled to the surface for both teams. The Shocker returned no worse for wear two jams later to win a textbook 4-0 as the 15 minute mark passed with a 109-88 Steel Hurtin' lead.

K Lethal sped through a stopped early pack for a grand slam as Mirderher put the clamps on Hurricane Heather to close the gap to 16 with just under 13 minutes to go. As June with a Cleaver took out the Crippler, tempers flared both on the track and in the crowd. Harsh words were exchanged all around as the officials sought to maintain order. The next jam began with jammer-on-jammer contact between K Lethal and 'snot rocket science resulting in a powerjam for Cincinnati. K Lethal blew through a pack full of high-hits and clockwise contact to score 15 before being sent to the box herself a hair's breadth away from a tie game. Before the jam ended, 'snot rocket science's 3-point retort kept the slight lead at 113-109 with 7 minutes left.

Mean Burrito began the next jam without an opponent but was only able to earn 10 points as Sk8r-Kinney and Karma Krash controlled the damage. In the following jam, however, the last hopes of the Black Sheep seemed to be crushed by Hurricane Heather who skated an inspired jam, scoring 23 unanswered points as J-Bomb, Athena, and the Crippler kept Wheezy in the pack for 2 full minutes. It was 146-109 with less than 4 minutes to go. Steel City won a couple of close jams before a chaotic closing powerjam, where Sk8r-Kinney's positional blocking forced Mean Burrito into a back block on Karma Krash and K Lethal struck for 19 in the powerjam as time expired; skaters were sent off left and right for every foul imaginable. With a palpable sense of relief, the ugly bout ended with Steel City taking the 168-139 victory.

In the opener, Steel City's B-Unit took on the newly-renamed Lambs of Cincinnati, who have eschewed Silence for Violence. The back-and-forth bout featured 8 lead changes. B-Unit jammers Cruisin' B. Anthony, Death Cake for Cutie, and McShovin were able to dominate control of lead jammer to counteract being constantly outnumbered in the pack. B-Unit delivered their best game of the year and a victory over the Violent Lambs, 166-140.