Salem, OR

Charm City captures ninth after 12-point win over The Chicago Outfit

By Shelly Shankya

The first game of Day 3 at the Salem Playoffs was a battle for ninth place between Charm City Roller Girls (5) (W20) and The Chicago Outfit (9) (W36).

Charm City Roller Girls came out strong for the opening of the game against the Syndicate, scoring first and establishing their lead. By the tenth minute of play, Charm City was up 49-24 despite Syndicate jammer Queefer Sutherland bringing her team out of the cellar with a 20-point power jam.

James McDaniel

The force of power jams shifted scores, as well as lead. With a 52-point run, started by Charm’s Allie B. Back high block, The Chicago Outfit started a rally that resulted in them leading the Charm City Roller Girls at half. Charm’s blockers also found themselves in some serious penalty trouble before the halftime whistle; specifically, veteran pivot Holly GoHardly accrued six penalties before the end of the first. Blocker Battery Operated picked up the slack, however, and held Syndicate jammer to a mere two points in the penultimate jam of the period.

The last jam of the first was a boon for Charm City, as jammer Nucking Futs scored 14 points on The Chicago Outfit as Queefer Sutherland was stymied by a wall of Charm City blockers. Charm fought back from a 19 point deficit to end the half 105-98 in favor of The Syndicate.

“Sometimes you have an opportunity for a resurrection, a chance to burn the house down and start again,” Charm City jammer and veteran Just Carol said. “We’ve had a tough season, losing IM Pain and Quickshot Kitty, and some of us have had to step in to roles we’re not as comfortable with. But these games have been close and we’ve learned to rely on each other.”

If Charm City wanted a resurrection from the weekend’s play, they got it in the second half. Skating cleanly, Charm City jammers put a serious hurt on Chicago’s score, and the Charm blockers did the same to the Syndicate jammers. In the first 10 jams of the second period, Charm held The Outfit scoreless, and only allowed four points by the sixteenth jam. The Charm City charge was led by jammer Just Carol’s 20-point jam, and blockers Hittsburgh and Uvetta Work holding Syndicate jammers long enough to allow several 4-0 jams. With 17 minutes remaining in the period, Charm had extended their lead to 42 points, 151-109.

The seventeenth jam, however, could have been the turning point for Outfit as Charm’s jammer Nucking Futs went to the box on a forearm, giving Queefer Sutherland and Matza Ball Breaker a chance to knock the differential down to 19 points, making the score 151-132. The final push by Chicago wasn’t enough to dent Charm’s determination, even as the point spread was only 10 points in the last jam, 181-171, in favor of Charm.

Ominously similar to Just Carol’s failed last jam against Detroit Derby Girls in Game 3, Just Carol took the line for the last jam, hoping to maintain Charm City’s lead. On the line for The Outfit, Lola Blow had to work through the three blockers on the track from Charm, and even though Chicago had the pack advantage, Just Carol got lead, confirming the Charm’s win as the seconds ticked off the clock.

“That’s the beauty of tournament play,” Just Carol said. “You get so tired and so wiped out that all you can do is do what’s natural. You can’t think about much else but doing what you’ve trained to do. I knew I could trust my blockers to help me out on the track, and I was happy to get a second chance.”

Final Score

(5) Charm City Roller Girls 189
(9) The Chicago Outfit 177

Charm City Roller Girls (5) (W20) fell four seeds, ending the tournament in ninth after their slim win over The Chicago Outfit, 189-177. The Syndicate fell one seed to tenth place at the end of the tournament.