Salem, OR

Victorian relies on strong defense to place fifth over Toronto in Game 15

By Shelly Shankya

Victorian Roller Derby League (8 seed, rank 31) drew an early lead in Game 15 against Toronto Roller Derby (10 seed, rank 39), but Toronto Roller Derby, but the lead was short-lived as Victoria’s defense stepped back momentarily, giving Toronto the go-ahead on an aggressive 30-point run in the first. In the first 22 minutes alone, Toronto’s CN Power had enjoyed five power jams, courtesy of VRDL. After reevaluating their defensive strengths, Victoria recovered from their early missteps to come back for a win over Toronto, 208-124.

“We tried to test the waters at the beginning of the game,” Victorian captain and blocker Calamity Maim said. “We played light on our defense, and it resulted in a 60-point loss for us. We came back from that knowing that we had to play stronger defense if we wanted to win the game.”

Jules Doyle

During the first fifteen minutes of the game Toronto’s CN Power used their deep bench of jammers and a few star passes to get up over VRDL by 47 points, especially with the power jam advantage in the first 20 minutes of play. A forearm major by Toronto’s Bambi in the sixteenth jam gave Victoria the opportunity they’d been waiting for. Mad Mel Arena scored 15 points on a power jam, followed by Swish Cariboom’s 10 points, another 10 from Skate Bush, and a 17-point run by Mad Mel to finish the period. Victoria held Toronto scoreless for five jams, enough time to even things up between the two international teams. The half ended with the teams tied at 75.

“We knew we had to settle down, and we took stock of our game, thought about positivity and accountability,” Calamity Maim said. “We didn’t need to stress out because we had control of the game going into halftime.”

Toronto continued to suffer scoreless jams at the hands of Victoria’s tough walls, including blockers Bebop-A-Lula, Perky Nah Nah, and Ruby Ribcrusher. Toronto went scoreless five out of the six opening jams, and Victoria managed to earn lead jammer status the lion’s share of the second period. Even when a forearm by Mad Mel Arena landed Victoria on the receiving end of a penalty kill, Perky Nah Nah managed to hold Bruiseberry Pie to only seven points.

The last seven jams of the game were a toss-up of jammer switch-outs in the box; Victoria enjoyed four power jams, while Toronto failed to truly capitalize on the three power jams they had. During the second-to-last jam, Toronto blocker Jubilee fouled out of the game and had to watch the last jam of the game from the wings of the pavilion. Jammer Skate Bush rolled through on a power jam to pick up 20 points after Toronto jammer Dusty went to the box on a forearm.

“Oh my god, it feels amazing to move up at this tournament,” Calamity Maim said. “That’s why we came to the tournament in the first place. We didn’t expect that we’d be able to make it all the way to Championships at this tournament, but our finish in fifth puts us in a great place for next season.”

Final Score

(8) Victorian Roller Derby 208
(10) Toronto Roller Derby 124

Victorian Roller Derby League advanced their seeding, moving from eighth to fifth in the tournament after their 208-124 win over Toronto Roller Derby League. Toronto finished the tournament in sixth, moving up from tenth.