Apr 10, 2013 | Bout News
Bout Recap: Gardas defeat Dolls for 3rd place, 140-91
Old and new, green and pink. The Minnesota RollerGirls’ 3rd-place bout shone with strong, individual performances by both teams. However, the Gardas controlled the bout from the start. The jammers in green built up a 79-point lead in the first half, while the Garda pack brought them home to the final whistle.
Garda Belts v Dagger Dolls
The Dolls came into this bout without a win since last season’s championship. Issues of injury and retirement and moving out of state plagued the team throughout the season. At game time, the Dagger Dolls put up a team of twelve - plus two as Garda double-threat Shiva Shank’n and the semi-retired icon Rumblebee joined forces with the Dolls.
Against that, the Garda Belts fielded a nearly-complete roster. With only Shiva on the other team and Betty LaRude acting as bench coach (injury), the Gardas played with seventeen.
From nearly the outset, the game was the Gardas. Dagger Doll Shiver Me Kimbers took the first lead of the game and two points…but got caught in a web of her own players and Gardas that shielded opposing jammer Suzie Smashbox from sight. Suzie stole two; Second Hand Smoke followed up with another four for the Gardas. 6-2 Gardas up after two minutes.
The next jam showed what how dangerous the Gardas had become. Crust Almighty punched through the pack for the lead and began accelerating as her opponent Rumblebee tried to do the same. No luck; Olga Ogilthorpe, Anita Spankston, and pivot Moto Fluzzi dug their hooks into the ‘Bee and kept her from her initial pass for 90 seconds as Crust lapped for fourteen points. Crust Almighty would jam twice more in the game, scoring 41 points in all.
With so few players available for this game, every Doll had to step up. Norwegian Mafia and Aurora Whorealis turned the tables in the 5th minute, holding back MEDUSA long enough for Kimbers to apex-jump her way to a nine-point jam. 20-11 Gardas ahead.
Sinaminn knocked Garda jammer OSHA (Frigid O’Shaughnessy) out, keeping her from taking the next lead. However, Sin could not stop the Gardas’ Second Hand Smoke from stomping on Dolly jammer Hanna Belle Lector. OSHA scored another 13 points until Hanna could escape from the Gardas’ unstoppable force.
At the 10th minute, it appeared as if the Dolls would catch a break as OSHA got sent to the box on a track cut. However, Garda legend Citizen Pain and captain Wolfe Bite killed the Dolly power jam dead as Aurora Whorealis, then Tiki Torture (on a star pass) could not pass the Garda pack. 36-19 Gardas ahead.
The Gardas kept the Dollys to only four more points in the first half. Rookie Soft Serve’s solid blocking forced a penalty on jammer Shiver Me Kimbers, giving Crust the chance to score 19 on the power jam. Two minutes later, it would be Suzie Smashbox and Moto Fluzzi’s turn to score nineteen against a boxed Shiva Shank’n. Finally, a star pass gone bad by Rumblebee allowed OSHA to score nineteen as well while Second Hand Smoke cleared her path.
HALFTIME: Garda Belts 102-23 Dagger Dolls
The Garda Belts switched to a holding strategy at the half, putting in stable, low-penalty players as jammers, while the Dolls began turning their young, fast players. The Dolls’ Killsey McMurder scored her first lead jam for two while Myrna Ploy in green came in just behind, burning past the Dolly defense trailing Killsey for a point-steal of four.
The Dolls firmed up in the pack and took control for the next five minutes as the Dolls’ star jammer Ova Achieva took advantage of a jammer penalty by Citizen Pain to sprint around the track for 14 points.
As play progressed, more first-year players began to take the initiative. Citizen Pain returned to the track the following jam; rookie Soft Serve played interference for Citi’s, serving up five. Rookie Hannah Shot First returned fire for five. Shotgun Millie, in her first game as an MNRG skater, grabbed her first lead and scored two for the Dolls. 117-46, Gardas ahead after thirty minutes of play.
Rita Rawkus took the next lead, grabbed 13 points, and wore down the clock at the cost of allowing opposing jammer Aurora Whorealis to score 11. Fourth-year Doll Rollercat bypassed Second Hand Smoke at turn 2 and nailed a grand slam. With Garda blockers in the box and a bit of a run-up, it seemed like the Dolls might just start a comeback. With five minutes to go and against a Doll-heavy pack, Crust Almighty snuffed out the hope by running out the clock further and scoring eight unanswered points.
Shotty (Hannah Shot First), Ova, and Killsey all scored consecutive leads, but the Gardas had the bout. The last moments of the match belonged to the retiring skaters of the two teams. With many players retiring, the audience was treated to one last Ova Achieva/Suzie Smashbox jam. Suzie nailed the lead (with Tiki getting one last stunning block before her retirement), but it was Ova who circled the track at the end as Suzie went to the penalty box for her 5th and final penalty. No matter.
FINAL: Garda Belts 140 - 91 Dagger Dolls
GARDA BELTS — 140 Points
16 Lead Jams
14 Jam Wins
3 Power Jams
57 Points from Power Jams
16 Grand Slams
\#40oz Crust Almighty — 3-3, 41 pts
\#-0 Frigid O’Shaughnessy — 2-5, 27 pts
\#91 Suzie Smashbox — 4-6, 18 pts13 MEDUSA — 2-3, 13 pts
\#113 Rita Rawkuss — 1-1, 13 pts
\#850cc Moto Fluzzi — 0-2, 9 pts
\#F16 Citizen Pain — 1-2, 7 pts
\#9 Second Hand Smoke — 1-1, 4 pts
\#FU Scootaloo — 1-1, 4 pts
\#999 Myrna Ploy — 0-1, 4 pts
\#52 Wolfe Bite — 1-1, 0 pts
\#513 Tara Bitchapart — 0-1, 0 pts
\#18 Anita Spankston — 0-1, 0 pts
\#240 Stacy Wrect — 0-1, 0 pts
DAGGER DOLLS — 91 Points
11 Lead Jams
10 Jam Wins
5 Power Jams
26 Points from Power Jams
10 Grand Slams
\#711 Ova Achieva — 3-5, 28 pts
\#252 Killsey McMurder — 2-2, 17 pts
\#667 Shiver Me Kimbers — 2-5, 15 pts
\#111 Aurora Whorealis — 0-2, 11 pts
\#<12pc Hannah Shot First — 1-4, 9 pts
\#17 Rollercat — 1-1, 5 pts
\#1072 Shiva Shankn — 0-3, 4 pts
\#1000 Shotgun Millie — 1-1, 2 pts
\#37 Hanna Belle Lector — 1-2, 0 pts
\#4x4 Rumblebee — 0-2, 0 pts
\#H8U Tiki Torture — 0-1, 0 pts
\#517 Detroit Muff — 0-1, 0 pts