Detroit, MI

by Shelly Shankya

Chicago Outfit Roller Derby of Chicago, Illinois (#6), challenged the Sacred City Derby Girls of Sacramento, California (#2), in Game 12 of the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs, and Chicago hoped for an upset like they gave Emerald City (#3) in Game 3 on Friday. But the upset was not to be, as Sacred City secured their trip to Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota,. on Nov. 8 to play for the D2 Championship, which will be shown on ESPN3.

Photo by Derby with Recess

While Sacred found trouble with jammer penalties, grabbing two in the opening three jams, they managed to fend off an Outfit blowout by tightening up their game play in jam nine of the first period. In five jams, from jam 8 to jam 12, Sacred City scored 80 points to the Outfit’s 14. That five-jam momentum was enough to give Sacred City the upper hand in the first period.

Chicago used the period to showcase helmet cover passes as a means of staunching the point bleed, completing no fewer than three star passes. Power jams and penalties were relatively even for the two teams: Sacred edging out the win on penalties in the first period with 19 to Chicago’s 21. The two teams had four jammer penalties each, but Sacred scored 68 during their four power jams, whereas Chicago scored 41 during four power jams.

At the end of the period, Sacred held a 52-point differential over the Outfit, 124-72.

The Outfit made small gains through the early minutes of the second period, trading points throughout the first 8 jams of the half. Sacred City revealed a chink in their armor, however, as Ariel-LA-Twister went to the penalty box twice in one jam. During the double power jam Sacred City’s blocker and pivot Gnar Gnar Jinx managed to hold Matzaball Buster, allowing her to score only four points. The jammer swap outs ended in Sacred City’s favor on most occasions, and during the thirteenth jam of the period, Outfit blocker Lady K fouled out with 12:20 left in the game. With 7 minutes left in the game, Outfit blocker Lethal Dose was ejected for an egregious clockwise block. At that point in the game the officiating crew spent several minutes reviewing requests by Sacred City and the Outfit. Both teams lost their official reviews.

With just 5 minutes left on the clock, Sacred veteran jammer 4closer received three jammer penalties in a row, allowing Outfit jammer Ice Hurt to score 18 points, followed by a 26-point jam by Lola Blow, the highest-scoring jam in the game. Blow passed the Sacred pack nearly untouched for four passes, but that momentum did not stay in the underdog’s favor, and the clock had too few minutes remaining. With under 3 minutes to go in the game, Sacred lost blocker Annie Ankle Biter, as she fouled out. While the Chicago Outfit managed to maintain the 50-point differential, they fell to the #2 seed Sacred City Derby Girls, 209-159.

Sacred City moves on to play in the 1st Place game at 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday against Nashville (#1). The Outfit moves on to play Naptown (#4) for third place at 4 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

FINAL SCORE

Sacred City Derby Girls (#2) 209
The Chicago Outfit Roller Derby (#6) 159