Salem, OR

Victoria upsets Sacred City, grabs chance for fifth place finish

With both teams playing for the opportunity to advance further in the tournament than they were seeded, Sacred City Derby Girls (7 seed, rank 28), of Sacramento, California, lined up against the ladies from Melbourne, Australia, the Victorian Roller Derby League (8 seed, rank 31) in Game 11 of the Salem Playoffs.

The first period featured VRDL jammers making the most of each jam and pulling away from Sacred City in the early jams. By the fourth jam, Victoria was up 4-44. Their lead was helped along by three back-to-back penalties by Sacred City jammer Daddy’s Girl, one for a multi-player block, one for a cut track, and the final an illegal procedure for entering the track in front of the track. Skate Bush, after scoring 23 points, went to the box for a forearm major, during which time 4Closer put five points on the board for the Sacrificers.

Jules Doyle

Colt 45 used 4Closer’s momentum to get 19 points on natural grand slams against Victoria’s Mad Mel Arena. Sacred City’s blockers, especially Slapjack, made Mad Mel’s attempts to get through the pack futile. The tenacity on the track from blockers on both sides resulted in tight packs. Sacred City blockers continued their tight pack-play when, during a power jam, blockers Slapjack, Miss Behaved and Cash Money kept Victoria jammer G-Banger to only five points.

VRDL returned the favor, however, in the last jam as Sacred jammer 4Closer was held in the pack for a full two minutes, even when VRDL was down to one blocker, Tiger. Skate Bush scored nine points, ending the half ahead 115 over Sacred City’s 52.

“It’s a constant struggle to balance aggression and penalties as a blocker,” VRDL blocker Tui Lyon said. “I have to focus on teamwork, and that helps keep me out of the box. If I focus on supporting my team, I think less about going for a hit that might result in a penalty.”

The second period was riddled with power jams for both teams, five for Victoria and four for Sacred City, though the Sacrificers came up short on points in the power jams. VRDL captain and jammer Swish Cariboom scored 20 points on a power jam from Sacred City as Colt 45 went to the box for a minute. The VRDL jammers followed up Cariboom’s power jam with a run of 41 points in the next five jams. With 11:00 remaining in the game, Victoria had extended their lead to 108 points, 194-86.

“We have a core set of values that include athleticism, competition, and accountability,” Tui Lyon said. “We touch on those values at every training session; each training session is always business. It costs us a lot of money to come over and play these games, and we have a strong hunger to learn and grow as a team during each tour.”

The 100+ point spread didn’t keep Victoria from skating aggressively, however. In the fifteenth jam, Colt 45 of Sacred City got lead jammer, but Mad Mel Area raced to catch her and knocked her off the track with a big shoulder hit. By the time Colt 45 recovered from the hit, the pack had reformed in front of her, forcing a call off. Then, as the game came to a close, Sacred City’s jammer Daddy’s Girl fought tirelessly behind Tui Lyon, but to no avail. Her jamming efforts resulted in a forearm major, opening the door for VRDL jammer G-Banger to extend the lead.

After 60 minutes of play, Victorian Roller Derby League (8 seed) celebrated their upset win over Sacred City Derby Girls (7 seed), 225-109.

“It feels awesome to move on it the tournament,” Tui Lyon said. “We head into every game with the understanding that there’s stiff competition. We’ll take the next game as seriously as we’ve taken every other game during this tour. Our performance this weekend is going to help our ranking for next season.”

Final Score

(8) Victorian Roller Derby 225
(7) Sacred City Derby Girls 109

VRDL moves on to the 5th Place game against the winner of Game 12 between Toronto Roller Derby and Boston Derby Dames. Sacred City moves to the 7th Place game against the loser of Game 12.