Kitchener-Waterloo, ON

By Vile Love It

The 7 seed Gold Coast Derby Grrls (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) won their first game of the day against the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls in what they called their “warm up” to play the 2 seed Queen City Roller Girls (Buffalo, NY) in what turned out to be the third rankings upset of the tournament.

Photo by Bruce Bell

The first jam of the bout set an unfortunate theme for the team from Buffalo, NY.Queen City took a blocker penalty and a jammer penalty and Gold Coast’s Kitten Not Submittin (#9) collected 14 points while Queen City’s defense wasn’t able to hold her for long.

Overall, Queen City collected 48 penalties (12 of them assessed to jammers) while Gold Coast only had 31 penalties (9 by jammers). One Queen City player fouled out while only one of Gold Coast’s players had five penalties. The rest of the Gold Coast high penalty players had three.

“We were extremely disappointed at the outcome of the game. We had the lead at half time but we had some major penalty trouble,” said Queen City coach Guy O. Tine. “In the second half, we had twice the penalties that Gold Coast had. We did not play clean enough and that’s what cost us the bout.”Queen City seemed scattered and unable to stay together for much of the game.

Gold Coast was able to take full advantage, often busting through Queen City’s defense collecting lead jam or points without a lot of trouble. When Queen City was able to form a tripod defense or a tight wall, they were able to contain Gold Coast’s jammers including Souljourner (#47), the top scorer of the bout with 70 points.

Midway through the first period Queen City dug in and chipped away at Gold Coast’s early lead. A couple of power jams in their favor helped them pull out of the scoreboard deficit and by halftime they clung to a slim lead 95-86.

During the second jam of the second period, Queen City’s InSINerator (#1666) headed to the box on back-to-back penalties and left Souljourner on the track. She collected 25 points and cemented her Gold Coast’s lead and Queen City was not able to pull it back from them.

Between hardcore defense that scattered Queen City’s skaters and several power jams, Gold Coast held Queen City scoreless for 11 jams total in the second period.

“We’re always the underdog. We’re always supposed to lose by 80 points or so,” said Gold Coast’s Baller Shot Caller (#143). “And that just fuels our fire.“We’ve been working hard on containment instead of the big swooping hits that look pretty but don’t always work out. We’ve been working on staying together as a team and staying low. Our jammers have a ton of endurance and we work on pushing for as long as you can.”

With a few minutes left in the bout, Queen City’s LiBRAWLian had a 19-point jam that brought her team to within 43 points, but then a back block sent her to the penalty box and, in the last jam, Gold Coast’s Baller Shot Caller (#143) grabbed 13 points to cement her team’s win and their move into the semifinals.

Final score:

Queen City Roller Girls 167

Gold Coast Derby Grrls 214