The Yukon Roller Girls entered the United We Roll Alaska State Tournament to work on strategy.

In the process, they went undefeated en route to a dominating first-place finish in Fairbanks, beating the hometown Raven Rebels 179-120 in Saturday's final.

The tournament was the first Alaska-wide tournament in history, and it was won by the only Canadian team attending.

"The trip to Fairbanks was just about playing our own game,” explained coach and captain Amil "The Fighting Mongoose” Dupuis-Rossi, who won MVP jammer for the tournament.

"We didn't think we were going to win anything. We were like ‘Let's just go and have fun and be supportive and make sure we gel as a team.' We literally went into every single game not having the pressure to win.”

And with that mentality, the Cinderella story unfolded.

In Friday's seeding bouts, the Yukon squad beat the Denali Destroyer Dolls 101-71, toppled Rage City's Orange Crush 119-101, and squeaked by the Fairbanks Gold Diggers 103-93.

On Saturday, the club moved on to the elimination rounds, defeating their nemesis team – the Juneau Rollergirls – 172-111 to earn a berth in the tournament final.

"We were kind of like ‘What's going on here?'” Dupuis-Rossi admitted yesterday. "Going into it, we made everything really simple, so everybody could execute these strategies and everyone understood them. We went very much back to basics.”

Lindsay "Bonanza Babe” Agar was named the tournament's MVP blocker.

"There was no expectations,” she said. "We were just going in to have fun. The whole thing about winning or losing? It wouldn't have mattered. We would have won – even if we didn't win the tournament because we played our game.”

The Yukon team is experiencing a rebirth of sorts after losing several key team members in 2013. Because of that, the Canadian club travelled to Fairbanks with just eight players, adding four more rookie players from North Pole, Alaska.

Avie "Miss M. Elf” James, Riley "Boom Dot Saint” Dukes, Krystin "Luda Kris Kringle” Bogan, and Kristina "AK Metal Angel” Johnson joined the Yukon Roller Girls for the tournament.

While the wins piled up, each of the blockers continued to receive equal time on the floor, and Dupuis-Rossi said it was that teamwork that helped the team win its first-ever tournament.

"Roller derby is supposed to be fun,” she said. "If we had gone into the tournament and lost every game, that still would've been OK. We successfully executed our priorities, and that itself was the victory. Winning the tournament was just icing on the cake.”

Dupuis-Rossi said the team has struggled to regain its form since a 188-182 loss to Juneau in February. At that time, the club was playing to win, and the competitive spirit was having a negative effect on the team's spirit.

"We were playing a different game,” added Agar. "We went to Seattle in March and had some good one-on-one time … and we really found ourselves as a team, and how we could be this supportive, fun team where we don't yell at each other on the bench. We just play the best game we can play.”

Part of the reason the girls attended the tournament was for the bootcamp that happened simultaneously throughout the weekend.

"That was our main focus, learning new skills and strategies,” Agar said. "It was kind of a shock and surprise when we won the tournament and were the MVPs as well.”

Dupuis-Rossi said taking the MVP awards was epic.

"It was like Canadians came and took all of the awards,” she said. "I guess it goes to show that regardless of how isolated we are, we're pretty on par with where we should be in terms of how many years we've been established.”

The Yukon Roller Girls – a three-year-old club – will savour this win throughout the summer, as they prepare for their next home bout in September.

The club is currently completing a fresh meat intake, and are currently practicing at the Canada Games Centre on Wednesdays to give potential skaters and recruits an opportunity to take an interest in the sport.

The local club will also host a referee boot camp from May 31 to June 2.