Kalamazoo, MI

Santa Cruz Advances to Semifinals

By Vile Love It

Derby is always full of surprises, but for some reason, we’re still always amazed when we get one. The game against the 8 seed Tri-City Roller Girls (ranked 60) who had advanced to take on the 1st seed Santa Cruz Derby Girls (ranked 42) out of Santa Cruz, California, took almost every person in the area the fans by surprise.

There were many issues that could have become road blocks for Tri-City. They had lost 6 of their key players—their power line—that season. They had already played a hard game that morning. They could have run out of gas when the pressure was on, or, as it happened, that previous game turned out to be a warm up.

It started out the way it was predicted. Santa Cruz hit hard and heavy and their jammers scored 33 points in the first two jams. Tri-City looked shocked. But the Canadian team recovered quickly as Santa Cruz’s Dusty Roadz (#299) took back-to-back trips to the penalty box. Tri-City wasted no time and made excellent use of their advantage. By the time Santa Cruz had a jammer again, Tri-City had the lead—79-33—something they never lost until the final second of the bout.

The penalty box had a significant impact on Santa Cruz. They had 16 penalty minutes in the first period, 4 of which were served by their jammers. In the second period, they had 26 penalty minutes, and for 6 of those their jammer sat in the box. Tri-City wasn’t immune to the box though. They served 18 minutes in the first period (5 jammer minutes) and 17 minutes in the second half (3 jammer minutes).

Tri-City was able to capitalize on their power jams and limit the damage when Santa Cruz had the advantage, and it seemed that the team from California was surprised by the strength and style of the Canadian team.

“It was exciting and nerve-wracking to come and play teams from an entirely different part of the country. We watched as much footage as we could but we didn’t really know what to expect when we got here,” said Santa Cruz’s Co-Captain Foxee Firestorm (#55). “Tri-City was an incredibly strong team.”

At the half Tri-City held a slight lead: 134-102.

Santa Cruz was able to stay within striking distance of Tri-City the entire game. No one relaxed and thought it was a done deal, least of all Tri-City jammers Ova’Kill (#11) and Freudian Whip (#22), who worked tirelessly the entire 61 minutes of play.

With each jam Tri-City gained confidence and Santa Cruz seemed frustrated by both the Canadians and the penalty calls. Toward the end of the period, Tri-City held Santa Cruz scoreless for 8 jams.

But the story of this game was in the last minutes. As the play clock ticked down the tension got thicker as Tri-City struggled to keep their lead and Santa Cruz inched forward. In the last jam of regulation play, Santa Cruz got the break they needed: a power jam and Shamrock N. Roller (#8) put up 24 points.

When the game ended, the scoreboard showed Tri-City the winner by 1 point and the crowd screamed. But the officials huddled intently in the center. With a score that close, they needed to be completely certain. Minutes later as everyone held their breath, a single point was awarded to Santa Cruz and it was a tie game.

To break the tie the jam clock was set again. There would be a single overtime jam.

In an overtime jam there is no lead jammer and the jammers begin to score points immediately. Santa Cruz got through first and collected 5 points. But then their jammer Queen Litigious (#41) caught a penalty and headed to the box. The crowd, which had been on their feet for some time already, erupted. Could Tri-City pull it off and beat the number 1 seeded team in overtime?

Within seconds, Tri-City’s Skate Pastor (#10) caught her own penalty and headed to the box. She had scored 3 points.

Shortly after that, the jam timer blew the staccato 4 whistles to end the jam and confusion spread across the arena. After another significant huddle by the officials, it was explained that, based on the circumstances surrounding the conclusion of the jam, the rules did not allow for another jam to be played.

“I have never been prouder of my team, of being a Tri-City Roller Girl, than I am right now,” said Tri-City Captain Sofanda Beatin’ (#420). “Are we upset? Of course we are. We believe that we are winners, no matter what the scoreboard said at the end. We played amazing. Every single player stepped up her game and worked together and that is what gave us the lead and made us feel like winners.”

Based on the officiating circumstances surrounding the overtime jam in the game between Santa Cruz and Tri-City, the tournament head officials have made staffing adjustments to ensure consistent and accurate officiating for the remainder of the playoffs.

Final Score

(1) Santa Cruz Derby Girls 236
(8) Tri-City Roller Girls 231

Santa Cruz advanced to the semifinal round to play NEO Roller Derby; Tri-City plays Carolina Rollergirls in Game 11.