Richmond, VA

No Coast gets into early penalty trouble, loses to Tampa

By Megan Enemies

No Coast Derby Girls (#22, seed #6) couldn’t recover from 24 penalties in the first half – six of them against two primary jammers. The team from Lincoln, Nebraska, took tenth place in the 2013 WFTDA D1 Playoffs Richmond, losing to Tampa Roller Derby (#29, #7 seed), of Tampa, Florida, 283-133.

No Coast put jammer Megan Harrington on the jammer line to start, with Christy Johnson wearing the pivot stripe. If the team hoped to set up Johnson to accept a star pass from Harrington, the strategy backfired – Johnson went to the penalty box on a track cut, and by the end of the second jam, both Harrington and Johnson had made two trips to the penalty box.

Tom Klubens

Tampa started jam 3 with a 49-0 lead and jammer PhDiesel unopposed. It wasn’t until the sixth jam that No Coast finally got on the board, when Harrington got lead and picked up four points. No Coast blocker Andrea Thompson as able to deliver some solid hits and slow-down Tampa jammers, but the Nebraska team rarely had a full pack on the track, making it difficult to contain the scrappy Tampa jammers for more than a few seconds.

No Coast blocker Christine Newell Snyder picked up her fifth penalty in jam 17, when Harrington also went to the box on a high block. Four jams later, Snyder fouled out, with four minutes left in the half.

Despite the penalty trouble, No Coast was within striking distance of Tampa at the end of the first half, when the score was 105-76, in favor of the Florida team. But by the third jam in the second half, the score was 171-85, after Johnson picked up a back block and Tampa’s Little A racked up easy points against a short No Coast pack.

No Coast had the opportunity to put some points on the board when Tampa jammer Taz Maniac got called for a back block midway through the second half. But No Coast jammer Anna Cassube couldn’t get past the demoralizing defense of Tic Tac Toni, Lily the Kid, and Lunch Lady. As Cassube struggled with the Tampa blockers, Taz Maniac returned form the penalty box, and Tampa managed to outscore No Coast.

Harrington – who scored more than 100 points against #3 seed Naptown Roller Girls Friday – squandered her lead jammer status in a subsequent jam, failing to call it before Tampa jammer PhDiesel jumped the apex to pick up all four points to No Coast’s one point.

No Coast blocker Emily Epperson fouled out with a few jams left to play. In all, No Coast skaters served 48 minutes in the penalty box, to Tampa’s 20 minutes. Harrington and Johnson – despite penalties – together scored 110 of No Coast’s 133 points. Tampa jammer Little A was the team’s top jammer in this game, scoring 65 points. Tampa blocker Blaque Jac skated 48 minutes without committing a single penalty, and Lil Bit played 32 minutes without going to box.

Final Score

(7) Tampa Roller Derby 283
(6) No Coast Derby Girls 133

Tampa Roller Derby take place 9th; No Coast Derby Girls 10th.