Boston Derby Dames

Now we're cooking. May saw a couple of upsets, but most of what we learned came from the closeness of games that went the right way.

BALTIMORE, MD--The Boston Massacre went down the coast to play Charm City Roller Girls' All Stars but failed to conquer their east coast rivals. Boston's roster was bolstered by the return of LCD, from last year's hiatus, as well as Providence Roller Derby transfer Craisy Dukes. Charm benefitted from the return of veteran Just Carol.

DUNDALK, MD -- In a private, neutral-ground Sunday morning bout between Boston (DNN #19, WFTDA #21) and Philly (DNN #7, WFTDA #9) following Boston's 214-108 loss to Charm City (DNN #15, WFTDA #12) on Saturday night, Boston found themselves following an increasingly familiar arc.

Last Weekend's Bouts Last weekend saw two long-running local rivalries return for 2013: Sacred City (27 WFTDA) travelled to Angel City (DNN #19, 18 WFTDA), and Montreal (DNN #17, 17 WFTDA) travelled to Boston (DNN #21, 20 WFTDA). Both games went as the rankings expected, but may well provide some early season indications of teams’ fortunes in 2013.

WILMINGTON, MA--DNN #21 Boston started out as big sisters to DNN #17 Montreal as the Canadians made their way into WFTDA in 2007, and that sibling rivalry has remained even though the New Skids have been on top since 2011. This time out Montreal kept their winning streak safe, and took the bout 188-117.

BURLINGTON, VT -- For the second time in two games, Boston found themselves up against one of their most storied regional rivals when they matched up against Carolina in the 7th place game at East Playoffs.

BURLINGTON, VT -- 3E Montreal and 7E Boston came into Saturday night's final consolation bout with a long history -- but the exuberant pre-game dance-off between the two squads made it extremely clear the rivalry was one of the most friendly in the sport.

BURLINGTON, VT -- The last quarterfinal of day 1 action at the East Playoffs was a huge upset -- for 30 minutes. In what was almost a carbon copy of Boston's defeat by Charm City at ECDX, the 7th-seeded Massacre held 2 seed Philly for the entire first half, and in fact held a slender 88-85 lead at halftime.

BURLINGTON, VT -- When 7 seed Boston and 10 seed DC met in the second opening-round bout of the WFTDA East Playoffs, the game was mostly decided by an ice-cold start and an ice-cold end for the low seed. Boston scored 46 unanswered points to begin action, but DC played them more or less evenly for most of the second half to stay within shouting distance into the last ten minutes.

BURLINGTON, VT -- It’s weekend three of the four-week cycle of the WFTDA regional playoffs. After the intensity of the upset-heavy North Centrals and last weekend’s West Playoffs -- a tournament that saw four of the five placement bouts come down to the last jam -- it would appear on paper that the historically more stable East Playoffs may be a little less hectic.