Mar 16, 2015 | Bout News
The Dagger Dolls Win The Golden Skate
The Dagger Dolls are your Season 11 Minnesota RollerGirls champions after fending off multiple comeback attempts by the Garda Belts to claim the Golden Skate. Skating Saturday in front of a crowd of 3224 rabid fans, the Dagger Dolls showed poise and resilience in their 121-99 victory.
The Dagger Dolls came strong out of the gate on Saturday, starting with a 3-point jam from Shiver Me Kimbers followed by a 25-point masterpiece from Jacked Pipes. Pipes took advantage of a long power jam opportunity to shove and dance her way through the Gardas walls on five scoring passes, at one point recovering from an all-out shove from Garda blocker Bri Zuss that left them both on the ground. Pipes got back to her feet quickly and kept scoring, then MEDUSA piled on with 10 on the next jam, starting the Dolls with a 39-0 lead.
This isn’t the first time that the Garda Belts have found themselves behind in a big game, however, and they reacted in the way they usually do: by slowly and deliberately crawling their way back. While the Gardas blocking staff, led by veterans Crust Almighty and Citizen Pain, held the Dolls at 39, Garda jammers Second Hand Smoke, Tara Bichapart, Frigid O’Shaughnessy and Scootaloo notched the Gardas score up to 4, then 13, 20, and 29 to make the score 39-29 with 7 minutes left. Shiver Me Kimbers left them something more to worry about at the end of the half, however, rocketing to a 20-point jam that put the Dolls up 74-40 at the half.
The Gardas answered back again at the start of the second half, however, with Ida Sockher, Smoke, and “O’Sha” all putting up big numbers to bring the Gardas back to 74-72. Meanwhile, trouble was brewing on the Dolls side as star rookie Jacked Pipes accumulated penalties in consecutive jams at the start of the half, then earned her fifth penalty, fouling out and requiring the refs to call off the jam so the Dolls could replace her in the penalty box.
So, 13 minutes left in the game, your 34 point lead has been cut down to 2 and your rookie phenom is stuck back in the locker room – what do you do next? If you’re the Dagger Dolls, you could do a lot worse than “Put in MEDUSA”, and that’s exactly what they did. ‘Dusa earned lead and 4 points on the next jam, bringing a palpable energy back to the Dolls bench. A scoreless jam followed, which set up Shiver Me Kimbers to jam against Tara Bichapart with 10 minutes left in the game.
Kimbers had a strong push off the line, but then dragged a foot through the infield around turn 1, leading to a track cut call that put Tara Bichapart alone on the track for the Gardas. Tara shoved and bashed her way to two scoring passes before Kimbers was released, getting some offensive help from Ida and Crust, but then Kimbers came screaming out of the box for more points. Dolls blockers Tara Skatesov, Kung POW Bitchin’, Shotgun Millie, and Hannah Shot First walled up to contain Tara while Kimbers put pink back in the lead 91-89.
Medusa added some cushion to the Dolls lead with 8 points on the next jam, but the Gardas would keep it close as time started to run out on the championship bout. With 1:35 left on the clock and the Dolls up by 7, Shiver Me Kimbers started a few paces back from the jammer line, then made it through huge hits from Betty LaRude and Crust Almighty to clear her initial pass. Once a track cut penalty was called on the Garda Belts jammer, it became clear that Kimbers had the upper hand, and she took a few victory laps to the roar of the Roy Wilkins Crowd as time expired. The referees blasted four whistles and the Dolls had become Season 11 Minnesota RollerGirls Champions.
Bout Highlights
First Half 14:00 – Jacked Pipes zips to the outside to try to find a hole in the Gardas wall, gets bumped by Second Hand Smoke and stays in play, but then Scootaloo comes with a cold shoulder and knocks her out of bounds long enough for Ida Sockher to earn lead jammer.
First Half 13:00 – Crust Almighty and Siren Annie team up to blast Dolls’ jammer Shotgun Millie to the outside of the track. Once Millie gets back in, she starts looking for her pivot MEDUSA to pass the star, but Gardas blocker Anita Spankston is stuck on MEDUSA like glue, preventing her from receiving the pass.
First Half 3:00 – The “passive offense” has become standard for power jams in WFTDA-rules play for good reason, but that makes a precision clear-out all the more effective when the defensive team isn’t expecting it. The Dolls send Freddie, Shotgun Millie, and Shiver Me Kimbers to bust apart the Gardas wall, leaving Jacked Pipes to sail through unopposed.
Second Half 18:00 – Second Hand Smoke makes the entire crowd gasp by going for a massive apex jump, then bailing and landing on her knees. Everyone on the track is relieved when she gets up, then gets right back to jamming a few minutes later.
Second Half 12:00 – Second Hand Smoke is lead and coming up on the pack like a bat out of hell. Hanna Belle Lector sees her coming though and gives her a solid knock to the infield, forcing Smoke to call off the jam scoreless. Hanna Belle fist pumps in celebration and the crowd loves it.
Second Half 7:00 – The Dolls line of Sagittearitup, Hanna Belle Lector, Polly Punchkin and Wolfe Bite show great teamwork in neutralizing a Garda power jam. They keep a body on Ida Sockher while dodging and recycling around offensive blocks from the Gardas.