Saint Paul, MN

by The Oxford Commakaze

The Victorian Roller Derby League of Melbourne, Australia, (#1 Tucson) pushed past the Texas Rollergirls of Austin, Texas, (#2 Dallas) to secure a place in the semifinals at the 2015 WFTDA International Championships. VRDL will play Gotham Girls Roller Derby of New York, N.Y., (#1 Omaha). It will be the first time the teams have faced each other since 2012, VRDL’s first season as a WFTDA member league.

Photo by Steve Jurkovic

“We just wanted to play our game,” explained VRDL captain Chuck. “I know that’s every sport person’s thing, but we went in to play what we’ve been practicing for so long. We didn’t want to feed into their energy, and I think we did that pretty well.”

In a glimpse of a game-long trend, lockdown circular defense by both teams kept both jammers from escaping the pack for more than a minute of the first jam, but VRDL jammer Christy Demons emerged first after Texas became the first team to lose a blocker to the penalty box one minute in, posting a 10-0 opening jam. Eager to assert its influence on the game after a scoreless second jam, Texas jumped onto the board after another agonizingly slow start as Jackie Daniels kept Christy Demons occupied long enough for Texas jammer Hauss the Boss to earn 4 points.

The game’s first major point run came on a 12-0 jam for Christy Demons yet again, one of only two double-digit jams in the first half, as Tui Lyon kept Texas jammer Fifi Nomenon stuck in the pack until she eventually escaped on a one-footed leap on the inside line to force an end to the jam. Despite VRDL’s lead ten minutes into the game, it was still less than a 30-point lead, which meant Texas’ first multi-pass jam, courtesy of Freight Train while blocker Smarty Pants recycled incessantly on VRDL jammer Giles and eventually drew a cut, posed a legitimate threat.

Low-scoring jams ruled the middle of the period, but low numbers didn’t indicate a lack of action, especially when a double power jam for Texas resulted in just two points thanks to jammer-halting defensive action by VRDL. Texas did post a double-digit jam of its own, but revolving jammer penalties meant VRDL had an opportunity for multiple passes in the same jam to keep the score from creeping too close. Aggressive blocking from Shortcut and Trauma for Texas kept VRDL’s progress slow, too, holding the score within 20 points with less than three minutes on the clock, but a power jam for Mary Fagdalene that carried over for Christy Demons helped VRDL push its lead to 76-39 at halftime.

Photo by Danforth Johnson

As deliberate as the first half was with each point painstakingly accrued, the second half was a mad dash for points with double the power jams seen previously. VRDL jumped on the scoreboard first, but Freight Train took advantage of a speedier pack after Christy Demons earned lead to follow her through and force a call-off. Texas couldn’t break onto the board for four more jams as the score leapt to 104-39 — but it broke back into the game in a big way less than ten minutes into the period with a 21-point jam from Freight Train, the biggest jam of the game and cutting VRDL’s lead by a third.

Two lead jams to Texas in a row kept the score back within 40 points with more than 20 minutes to go, but a 10-point power jam for Mary Fagdalene and a stellar penalty kill for VRDL holding Hauss the Boss scoreless wedged the score gap wider again. Texas held VRDL scoreless for two jams but only posted 9 points of its own, which wasn’t enough to shake VRDL as the clock wound down. VRDL jammer PorFavor, taking the star for the first time, grabbed lead jam status with just over 10 minutes remaining and started a scoring run for the Australian team, which held Texas scoreless for seven jams as Bicepsual, Tui Lyon and Lorrae Evans kept its jammers inextricably tangled.

By the time Texas got on the board again with just under three minutes left in the game, VRDL had already doubled Texas’ score, and Freight Train’s 3-point power jam still couldn’t match the 7 points Mary Fagdalene scored in the same jam. With 23 seconds on the clock, Texas managed one last lead jam call as Olivia Shootin’ John busted up the inside line past Bamma, but with Mary Fagdalene emerging from the box hot on her heels to force Texas to call with just two points for a final score of 181-85.

FINAL SCORE

Victorian Roller Derby League (#1 Tucson) 181
Texas Rollergirls (#2 Dallas) 85