Sacramento, CA

by Vile Love It

If you looked at the numbers before the game between the No. 6 seed Santa Cruz Derby Girls and the No. 9 seed New Hampshire Roller Derby, you might have expected a closer game. In last year’s Division 1 tournament, New Hampshire placed 8th. Santa Cruz, on the other hand, won their Division 2 tournament and fell to the Jet City Rollergirls in the Division 2 Championships. The 2013-2014 season left Santa Cruz ranked 25th and New Hampshire ranked 34th.

photo byDavid Costa

The other numbers that played a part in the game between these two teams was, not surprisingly, the penalties. In the first period alone, New Hampshire’s jammers visited the box 5 times and Santa Cruz took every advantage they had to add point after point to their score. New Hampshire had but 3 power jams, and their jammers were not able to get through the Santa Cruz blockers.

But Santa Cruz didn’t need power jams to rack up the points. The Santa Cruz defense was able to hold New Hampshire’s jammers in the pack for lap after lap while their jammers were able to negotiate New Hampshire’s defense much of the time.

New Hampshire did well when they were able to maintain tight walls. They were often successful at recycling Santa Cruz’s jammers and keep them working the same blockers over and over until they were able to get through. But when the New Hampshire jammers were stuck, the New Hampshire offense wasn’t able to switch on and then off quickly enough and the Santa Cruz jammers frequently scored through a pack that didn’t give them much resistance.

At the half, Santa Cruz held a commanding lead: 155-30.

In the second period, New Hampshire adjusted their game and gave up only two power jams and by the end of the game the penalty box visits were evenly spread: 33 for Santa Cruz (6 by jammers), 32 for New Hampshire (7 by jammers).

The score differential didn't stand on power jams though - it was made by the Santa Cruz high-powered defense and their agile, tenacious jammers. Santa Cruz heads on to play Tampa at 6 p.m. on Saturday while New Hampshire will meet up against Blue Ridge on Sunday morning in the battle for 9th and 10th place.

Final Score

Santa Cruz Derby Girls 260

New Hampshire Roller Derby 72