Saint Paul, MN

by Shelly Shankya

The run for third place at the the 2015 International WFTDA Championships was a long, grinding bid for dominance between Victorian Roller Derby League of Melbourne, Australia (#1 D1 Tucson, #4) and London Rollergirls from London, England (#1 D1 Jacksonville, #3). While the two met only once prior to Sunday’s game, at the 2014 International WFTDA Championships in Nashville, Tenn., the teams used their skating skills in the fight to the finish, with the lead switching back-and-forth, featuring scoreless runs for each.

Photo by Ryan Quick

Victoria, who narrowly missed a fight for the Hydra in Saturday’s semi-final against Gotham Girls Roller Derby (#1 D1 Omaha, #1), struggled early with jammer penalties, giving nearly half of the first half to London. Bonnie Wyckman (Mary Fagdalene) suffered a track cut in the second jam forced by London blocker Arocha, during which time Stefanie Mainey scored 13 points. Compared to previous games featuring VRDL, the pack speed was quite quick; it wasn’t until two jams later that the Australians took control of the pack pace, holding London jammers to the Australian speed of play. But after a brief lead, Victoria hit a jammer penalty speed bump. They had four consecutive jams with jammers in the penalty box: first Wyckman with a back block, then Swish Cariboom with a track cut, then Christy Demons with another track cut, and finally with Giles going to the box on a forearm. The onslaught of jammer penalties put London in the lead after a 25-4 scoring run.

Photo by Steve Jurkovic

Down by 22 points at 15:52 remaining in the first period, VRDL took a timeout to reassess and refocus. As jammer Christy Demons stepped to the line after the team timeout against London’s Lexi Lightspeed, Australia was in need of a momentum shift, and London responded by sending out blockers Kid Block, Die Die, Shaolynn Scarlett and Just Jess. Those blockers made lead jammer difficult but not impossible for Demons. Lexi forced Demons out of bounds, resulting in reverse roller derby as the pack did nearly a full lap rotation before the jammers came back on the track. Demons scored 17 despite the reverse, and Swish Cariboom followed Demons with enough tenacity and speed to score four. It wasn’t an easy four points, howeve. In fact, while the jammers sought a foothold in the nooks of the pack, the clock counted down a full 1:45 before Swish took lead. In the end, though, the extra moments of the timeout taken at 15:52 gave the Australians what they needed, as the team came out from the timeout to go on a 40-0 tear against London.

Photo by Danforth Johnson

Just two jams after Swish helped the team take the lead, Giles took the line and gained lead jammer after an essential assist through the pack by blocker Tui Lyon. However, during tough hustle through the pack, Giles’ helmet cover slipped off. She completed three-quarters of a lap before realizing the slip and had some confusion about how to regain it. London blockers Die Die and Kid Block took notice of the downed star cover, and kept the pack decidedly engaged in turn three. When Giles came though to pick up the cover, Die Die committed a low block in attempt to keep Giles from having the ability to call things off. The star cover kerfuffle halted the scoreless jams for London, but Victorian had already done the damage. The period ended with VRDL in the lead by 19 points, 66-47.

“The pack speed was definitely faster, and it was a different game than the game we played last night [against Gotham],” Victoria captain Chuck said. “But we make sure that we know how to play both games.”

The lead that Victoria established in the first period never relented, and the second period was spent with London seeking opportunities to bring things back to within reach. London took first bite at the scoreboard in the first jam of the second half on a huge push out on jammer Christy Demons by Kid Block to allow Lexi Lightspeed lead and four points. Taking a page from London in the next jam, blocker Bicepsual held Stefanie Mainey, forcing a star pass to pivot Arocha in an attempt to staunch the point bleed by Wyckman who scored nine. The pack play continued its gruelingly halted speed, and with just over 15:00 left in the period, VRDL called its official review on a non-call to London jammer Lexi Lightspeed; the team requested a blocking out of bounds hit on jammer Swish Cariboom that sent the jammer flying into the crowd in turn two. The non-call, stood, however, and VRDL lost its official review.

By the time of the official review, though, the point spread was a clean 30 points in Victoria’s favor, 99-69. Wyckman grabbed lead in the following jam, but it took a full 1:51 for her to clear the pack, even with assist attempts from Victoria blocker Smashin’ Pop. She scored a mere one point in her :09 of jam time, putting the Australians at 100 points to London’s 75. The point spread stayed nearly the same for the remainder of the game, and London used its two timeouts to stop the clock in hopes of putting up the necessary points to steal the win. The timeouts resulted in a 5-4 point win for London, but even with a full 1:42 of scoring time potential after being declared lead jammer, London jammer Rogue Runner scored only two points; indeed, the Victorian blockers had locked down their defense, as well as any movement in the pack.

With a 122-99 win, Victorian Roller Derby League took third place at the tournament, the first time an international team has taken a medal at Championships.

“We wanted to win this weekend, and we didn’t want to get rattled during our play,” Chuck said. “We were aiming for a medal at Championships, and we accomplished that. It’s great.”

With the loss, London repeats their performance from 2014 play, losing in a nailbiter game for third.

“The game never felt lost for us,” London blocker Raw Heidi said. “We’re two different teams [from when we played Victorian in 2014], and they’ve refined their play, but we went toe-to-toe with them today.”

FINAL SCORE

London Rollergirls 99
Victorian Roller Derby League 122