Salem, OR

Toronto upsets tournament vets Sacred City in opening game of Salem Playoffs

By Shelly Shankya

The initial day of the final Division 1 Playoffs from Salem, Oregon, started with the Sacred City Derby Girls (7 Seed, #28) facing off against Toronto Roller Derby (10 Seed, #39).

Toronto’s team, CN Power, having never faced the Sacred City Sacrificers or played in a post-season tournament, used slim pack advantage as well as large point accrual during power jams to move on in tournament play, finishing the game in the lead 215 - 90 over the Sacred City Sacrificers.

“We’re really pleased with the score differential,” jammer and TORD captain Dusty said. “We’ve never played Sacred City due to distance, and this tournament is a great opportunity to play teams who are far away from us. As long as we keep getting stronger as a team, then I’m happy.” 

The CN Power played with aplomb during the first period, jammers slicing through the Sacred City pack with seeming ease. Toronto’s play was made easier by the six power jams Sacred City gifted them, four of which were back-to-back power jams. Blocking strength on the Sacred City team fell to Axel Breaker and Annie Anklebiter in the opening minutes of play, especially when the Sacrificers were down to two blockers on the track. The teams split the time in the penalty box with nearly equal penalty minutes in the first (25 for Sacred City, 22 for Toronto), but Toronto was able to capitalize on the pack advantage when push came to shove.

While Sacred City started the game leading lead jammer status, the Sacrificers went scoreless for a total of 13 of the 21 jams in the first half. Of note, 4closer used her spin moves to pass the Tornoto blockers, juking around them on the outside of the track. She also led the team in points for the first half. On Toronto’s bench, Bala-Reina led the CN Power with 67 points. With nine seconds left in the first period, Sacred City’s Axel Breaker fouled out, having accrued her final major as a jammer. CN Power used the power jam to extend their lead. The final score at half stood at 55 Sacred City, 148 for Toronto Roller Derby. 

“Our team has worked hard to make sure we have fewer jammer penalties,” Dusty said. “We also talked about our blockers getting fewer direction of play and multi-player penalties during halftime. It was our goal to make sure we took advantage of the penalty minutes they gave us.”

After having lost a skater in the first period and then suffering scoreless jams, Sacred City came back from halftime with momentum in the second. The team scored 20 points in the first six minutes of play and managed to grab lead jammer status the bulk of the opening jams. The CN Power didn’t let Sacred’s momentum last long, however; they managed to send Sacred on another scoreless stint, continuing to extend their lead. Toronto blockers Santa Muerte and pivot Nasher the Smasher gave jammers 4Closer and Daddy’s Girl a tough run, consistently knocking the jammers off the track and recycling them to the back. Toronto continued to play with their bench’s depth, carrying their jammer rotation, and letting pivot Bruiseberry Pie take the helmet cover to continue the jam; she went on to score 9 points on a power jam for TORD. 

Toronto continues on in the winner’s bracket to play Atlanta Rollergirls (2 Seed, West 7) at 4 pm PDT on Friday.

“We plan to play our same game against Atlanta,” Dusty said. “I know they’re [Atlanta] ranked higher than us, but we don’t want to look up to them; we want to look at them as equals on the track.”

Sacred City moves to the consolation bracket after suffering an upset loss in the opening bout. They’ll play the loser of Game 3 between Detroit Derby Girls (4) and Charm City Roller Girls (5).

Final Score

(7) Sacred City Derby Girls 90
(10) Toronto Roller Derby 215