Salem, OR

Boston Massacre rolls away with the win over The Chicago Outfit

By Shelly Shankya

The Boston Derby Dames (6 seed, rank 23) and The Chicago Outfit (9 seed rank 36) had never played against each other until Game 8 at the Salem Playoffs. The game highlighted the difference between the sixth and ninth teams at the tournament, as Boston skated away with the win, 378-184.

Boston’s Boston Massacre started the slaughter early, with a 40-point jam (the highest for the weekend thus far), followed by 35 points, then 31 points, then 29, then 24. The Massacre went on their run, holding The Chicago Outfit’s Syndicate to only 50 points in the first 22 minutes of play. And it wasn’t one or two jammers doing the hard work for Boston; the team had nine skaters jam in the opening period of play, including three star passes during power jam opportunities.

Steve Jurkovic Photography

Chicago suffered a rash of jammer penalties, making Boston’s point run that much easier. Likewise, Chicago’s penalty count was more than twice as high as Boston’s at the half. The Syndicate’s jammer Queefer Sutherland spent two minutes back-to-back in the penalty box, one for a low block, the next for a forearm. Blockers also accrued several penalty minutes, Ivana Schoop with five before the half and Valerie of the Dolls with four. In the penultimate jam of the period, Boston jammer Anna Wrecksya went to the box for a back block, giving the Syndicate a chance to come back before the half. Chicago’s Queefer Sutherland got her fifth penalty of the game, however, negating the advantage. The score at half showed Boston with a substantial lead over the Syndicate, 216-87, a 129 point differential.

“We really worked to maintain our focus despite the differential,” Boston Captain Shark Week said. “We reminded ourselves about focusing on lower penalties in the second half because we started to get penalty-heavy towards the middle of the first. Plus, we realize that jammer penalties can be very destructive to anyone’s game.”

The second half of play was much like the first, with Chicago struggling to keep jammers on the track and Boston improving their lead with minimal penalties, comparatively. The Boston Massacre gave up a few jammer penalties during the second, but not as many as The Chicago Outfit; the Syndicate suffered a foul-out toward the end of the game when The Joan Ranger got her seventh. With short pack numbers, often with only two on the track, and rarely with the pack advantage, Chicago had a difficult time holding back Boston from their dominating performance on the track. Bad Person grabbed lead jammer in the last jam and allowed the period clock to run down as Chicago jammer Lola Blow came out of the penalty box. When the officials called the end of the game, Boston defeated Chicago by nearly 200 points, 378-184.

“It [winning a game] is always a good morale booster,” Shark Week said. “But we’re not going to underestimate the other teams we have to play. There have been a few upsets this weekend, and we can’t let our win cloud our goal for this tournament.”

Final Score

(9) The Chicago Outfit 179
(6) Boston Derby Dames 378

Boston Derby Dames (6 seed) advances to play Toronto Roller Derby (10 seed) for a chance to advance to the fifth place game on Sunday. The Chicago Outfit moves on to play Charm City Roller Girls (5 seed) for a chance at ninth.