Salt Lake City, UT

by Shelly Shankya

With multiple jammer penalties, Charm City Roller Girls (seed 4, rank #15) of Baltimore, Maryland, USA fell to the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (seed 3, rank #10) of Denver, Colorado, USA in Game 16 of Day 3 at the international WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Salt Lake City. Because of their win Rocky Mountain will head to Championships in Nashville on Oct. 31-Nov 2.

Photo by Chris Bojanower

Ten jammer penalties dramatically affected Charm City’s play in the first half. As jammers sat in the box, the responsibility fell to blockers to hold back the Rocky Mountain skaters and jammers like Alpha Q. Up and Sweet Mary Pain. Seasoned blockers like Just Carol and Holly Gohardly gave a strong fight, but it wasn’t enough to staunch the point spread while Charm City jammers cooled their heels in the box.

With the floor all to their own for a full five minutes of play in the first half, Rocky Mountain jammers managed to wrangle 109 points from the ladies from Baltimore. The offensive advantage fell in Rocky’s favor by the end of the half, despite having four jammer penalties on their own. During one jam, Phantom Menace picked up 23 points, juking, hoping, and mohawking through the Charm blockers. Rocky Mountain left the half in the lead by 50 points, 109-59.

Unfortunately for Charm City, the first jam opened with a jammer penalty, giving Rocky continued opportunity to grab more points. The penalties, however, were less lopsided during the second half, much to Charm’s delight. The point differential stayed relatively equal during the duration. Rocky Mountain’s penalties continued to mount, however, though primarily for the team’s blockers. With just over 10:00 left in the game, Rocky had accrued 36 penalties to Charm’s 29 penalties. Holly Gohardly, one of Charm’s blockers with few penalties, was expelled from the game after an egregious low block with just under 9:00 left.

In an attempt to make up for the team’s loss, jammer Nuckin Futz grabbed 10 points on a power jam for Charm City, but the high point scorer for Rocky Mountain, Sweet Mary Pain, worked in tandem with team jammers She Who and Phantom Menace to maintain the 50-point differential. With just under 2:00 to go in the game, Rocky jammer Alpha went to the box twice, giving Charm’s jammer I.M. Pain a chance to beat the spread. Taking the spread from 50 points to under 30, 174-147 in favor of Rocky, Charm City took a time out to freeze the clock at :25 seconds in their last-ditch effort to make a grab for the ticket to Nashville. The last jam did not go Baltimore’s way, though, and Rocky heads to Nashville.

Rocky Mountain Rollergirls defeated Charm City Roller Girls 183-156.

Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (seed 3, rank #10) continue to WFTDA Championships in Nashville after securing third place in Salt Lake City. Charm City Roller Girls (seed 4, rank #15) come out even with their seed after the weekend’s play.

Final Score

(4) Charm City Roller Girls 156
(3) Rocky Mountain Rollergirls 183