Salem, OR

Victorian comes out on top over Chicago Outfit

By Shelly Shankya

With the farthest distance to travel of any of the participating teams, the Victorian Roller Derby League (8 Seed, #31) of Melbourne, Australia, used their might to ensure a win and continued play in the winner’s bracket when they set skates on the track. Their opponents, The Chicago Outfit’s (9 seed, #36) Syndicate, came off of a season with ups and downs, and narrow wins to play the international team. Despite high penalties and power jams for each team, Victoria managed to take a solid win over the Syndicate, 304-115.

“After our tour in May, we took a break and a breather, letting our team have some personal time,” VRDL captain and jammer Swish Cariboom said. “We learned a lot from our tour, and that helped us prep for this weekend.”

Jules Doyle

The first half of play had each team suffering penalty kills as their jammers went to the box. VRDL used the advantage more successfully than the Syndicate, led by VRDL blockers Tui Lyon and Calamity Maim. Lyon was all over the track, forcing Outfit jammers to the edge of the track on multiple occasions. The blocker line for VRDL held Outfit jammers scoreless on 10 jams despite often only having two blockers on the track; both teams had high turnover in the penalty box during the first half.

“We practice 2-wall defense and offense for our blockers so that when we’re down on blockers we know what to do,” Swish said. “We also have our jammers work on being conservative when we are low on blockers on the track.”

The Syndicate started many of the jams at the pivot line, attempting to throw Victoria off their game, but to no avail. When the Syndicate earned lead jammer status, VRDL jammers Swish Cariboom and Mad Mel Arena were hot on their heels, often forcing a 0-0 score. The ladies from Australia dug deep to continue their lead over the Syndicate, even as Chicago called for an official review with two seconds remaining in the period. The call to review a non-cut track call on VRDL jammer Swish Cariboom stood at the end of the review, and VRDL used the last moments of the period to rack up 14 more points. At half VRDL led Chicago 134-75.

Chicago came back after the half and worked to decrease the 59-point differential VRDL established at the end of the first half; they took advantage of two power jams off of Swish Cariboom and scored 19 points. It wasn’t enough, however, as Victoria held the differential consistently throughout the opening jams of the second period. Teams traded small points back and forth until Syndicate jammer Matza Ball Breaker went to the box on a forearm major caused by Mad Mel Arena. Mad Mel engaged Matza, forcing Matza back into the fast-moving Australian pack; while fighting to get back out of the pack, Matza picked up her major. After Chicago’s jammer penalty, VRDL exploded the point differential, scoring 94 points in four jams. And Victoria never let the pressure off the women from Chicago. As the penalty clock expired, VRDL led Chicago 304-115.

“We didn’t really notice the momentum shift because we play hard until the last jam of every game,” Swish said. “Honestly, we didn’t look at the scoreboard until the end of the game, and I don’t think we actually expected the score to look like that.”

Final Score

(8) Victorian Roller Derby League 304
(9) The Chicago Outfit 115

Victorian Roller Derby League moves on to play B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls at 6 pm PDT on Friday. The Chicago Outfit (9) (W36) switches to the consolation bracket to play the loser of Game 4 between Rat City Rollergirls (3) and the Boston Derby Dames (4) at noon on Saturday.