Feb 11, 2016 | Bout News

Breakin’ Hearts: Rockits Slay Dagger Dolls

By Fire Wally

The Rockits won an intense, chaotic, and athletic semifinal matchup on Saturday over the Dagger Dolls at the Minnesota RollerGirls’ Breakin’ Hearts, Crackin’ Skulls event. Led by captain and Derby 4 All Player of the Game Rhea Volt, the Rockits overcame a late surge by the Dagger Dolls in the second half to win 170-143. With the win, the Rockits advance to skate against the Atomic Bombshells in the Golden Skate championships on March 4.

First Half

Jacked Pipes came screaming off the line in the first jam of the night as though she hadn’t stopped skating since her command performance at the last Minnesota RollerGirls bout just two weeks ago. Pipes earned lead quickly and finished two scoring passes before the Rockits’ Manilla Ice escaped the pack after a successful star pass. That put the Dagger Dolls up 9-0 to start the game.

Rhea Volt answered back with equal force on the following jam, earning lead jammer quickly and then racking up 20 points while Shotgun Millie and then Kung POW Bitchin’ were both stymied by a Rockits wall led by MadRad. With 17 minutes left in the half and the score standing at 9-20, the crowd was already pumped up for what would be an intense back-and-forth shootout between these teams.

Jacked Pipes put up a big power jam of her own on the next jam, but then Dreidel Robber,Obscene Sheen, and Rhea Volt each earned quick 4-point jams to answer the Dolls. Both teams’ jammers were doing excellent work at finding the holes off the line and running to quick lead jammer calls, making for a high-tempo game through the first half. With 12 minutes left on the clock, a 6-4 jam in favor of Pipes put the score at a 32-32 tie.

The Dagger Dolls’ Shiver Me Kimbers outscored the Rockits’ Dreidel Robber 2-1 on the next jam, but on the following jam Rhea Volt stepped up again to put the Rockits a few strides ahead. With Pipes in the Surly Sin Bin following a forearm penalty, Volt gracefully whipped around the track for 3 scoring passes during the 30-second penalty, putting the Rockits up 45-34.

Both teams would continue tit-for-tat through the rest of the half, with Shiver Me Kimbers and Jacked Pipes putting up the majority of the Dolls’ points and Manilla Ice adding to the usual trio of scoring threats for the Rockits – Obscene Sheen, Rhea Volt, and Dreidel Robber. The stakes of this semifinal contest showed themselves now as blockers from both teams visibly brought up the intensity and aggressiveness of their play, resulting in more blockers from both teams sent away on penalties. The Dolls managed on one jam to lose each of Wolfe Bite, Polly Punchkin, Hanna Belle Lector, and Kung POW Bitchin’ to penalties, but to keep the Rockits jammer behind them with the remaining blockers engaging in aggressive recycling.

After a 2-minute sprint between Volt and Pipes at the end of the half, the score stood 90-78.

Second Half

Rhea Volt started the second half in the penalty box from a penalty committed at the end of the first half, giving Jacked Pipes another opportunity to hit the Rockits hard in a power jam. Her 9 points seemed like exactly what the Dolls needed to get back in the game, but then Pipes was called on a track cut that was her fifth penalty of the night. Per MNRG home season rules and to the dismay of Dolls fans, Pipes had fouled out of the game and had to be replaced in the penalty box by Killsey McMurder.

Dreidel Robber took advantage of the Dolls’ setback on the next jam to rack up 20 points for the Rockits. Dre received a timely boost from Ana Stick to clear her initial pass and some excellent defensive support from MadRad and MeshugEnough, who repeatedly hit Killsey out of bounds to give the Rockits jammer more time to score. With their leading scorer removed from the game and the Rockits scoring assault showing no signs of stopping, the Dagger Dolls were in a bad spot.

If the game plan were to give up without Jacked Pipes, however, surely nobody told Shotgun Millie, who exploded two jams later with a 10-point effort that put the Dolls back in contention. With Rockits jammer Rhea Volt stuck behind a triangle of Hannna Belle Lector, Polly Punchkin, and Wolfe Bite, carefully “bridged” back to the pack by Kattoo, Millie kicked and clawed her way to two complete scoring passes, cutting the Rockits lead to 123-101 with 12 minutes left to play.

That pattern repeated itself again on the following jams, with Dreidel Robber scoring big on the next jam for the Rockits but the Dolls clamping down after that and Ova Achieva, Millie, and Winona Collider each working to win back the deficit. With the score at 140-126 Rockits with 6 minutes on the clock and the Dolls holding on to momentum, Dolls fans in the crowd were cheering for an upset.

Unfortunately for the Dagger Dolls, Manilla Ice and Rhea Volt then executed a 1-2 punch on the next two jams that would put the Dolls out of contention for the Golden Skate. Ice finished a 4-point scoring pass by muscling her way past the Dolls blockers Lola Frequency and AssFault Assault, and then Rhea Volt took advantage of a final power jam opportunity to seal the Rockits victory. Diving and juking around the Dolls blockers, Volt picked up 18 points to make the score 152-128 with 3 minutes remaining. Two chaotic jams followed to conclude the game , but the Rockits kept that margin to the final whistle, winning 170-143