Saturday night, at the Landry Arena in Fitchburg, MA, those of us in attendance saw a hard-fought bout between two teams- one, WFTDA sanctioned, while the other was not. The Bay State Brawlers’ very own A-team, the Petticoat Punishers, got to face off against Connecticut RollerGirls’ B-team, the Yankee Brutals, and in their home rink, no less. It was a hard game to NSO, and definitely a nail-biter the whole way through.
The first half started a bit slow, with the Punishers taking the lead the initial few jams, but when Ashlee Juggz got sent to the box for a track cut, the Brutals’ Kitty Bomb took full advantage and got away with a number of grand slams, giving the Brutals an immediate lead of about 25 points. The first half was something of a mess, much to the crowd’s dismay, when the Punishers’ Ashlee Juggz (something of a star around here) continually got sent to the box on unclear calls, and that by the time the first half ended, Juggz had secured her sixth major- which was a first for the typically very low-penalty jammer. Sandy Ravage of the Punishers brought the girls in purple back to lead a few times, but jammers Revengela and Puke Skywalker did their best to counteract, and the first half ended with 97-88, Brutals in the lead.
At the start of the second half, we saw the Punishers take the game as Sandy Ravage got a solid powerjam and brought the score to 107-97. With Ashlee Juggz possessing a precarious amount of majors at this point, we see a brand new skater, B-Line Blondie, in her skating debut for the Punishers, take lead as star jammer alongside Sandy Ravage.
Not too far into the second half, Puke Skywalker takes advantage of a big hit to the opposing jammer from her teammates, Babe Vigoda and Maura Gregious, scoring enough points to bring them back to lead. The very next jam, all skaters took a knee for Mama Hotep of the Brutals, who was downed for injury, forcing the jam dead.
One of the few times Sandy Ravage was in the box, the Yankee Brutals get another powerjam and reclaim lead, 134-127. Shortly after, B-Line Blondie’s first trip to the box gives yet another powerjam to the Brutals, giving them another shot at lead. Ashlee Juggz, Cali N. Tay, and Sandra Mean, however, proved to be a force to be reckoned with in this powerjam, as all were reluctant to give Puke Skywalker their points. More penalties start rolling in, very much to the displeasure of home team fans, as Sandra Mean gets sent to the box and Ashlee Juggz takes her seventh, and final major of the night for a low block in a final desperate attempt to keep Puke Skywalker from making that grand slam, causing an uproar among fans.
With only 11 minutes and 32 seconds on the clock, the score stood at 149-127, Brutals, and we see Folsom Bruise of the Brutals and Sandy Ravage of the Punishers toe to toe at the jammer line. On a mission to get some of those points back for the Punishers, Ravage makes a brilliant apex jump and weasels her way through the pack.
For the first time this evening, we saw Cali N. Tay, star blocker for the Punishers, put on the star panty, but misses a lead jammer opportunity for a minor track cut. With eight minutes and 13 seconds left, the Punishers have reclaimed the lead 154-135.
The next jam becomes the first jam where Sandy Ravage came out of the pack first but did not gain lead jammer status due to a minor forearm, and the Brutals deny Ravage her scoring pass. New star jammer, B-Line Blondie, takes the game away with another grand slam, putting the Punishers in the lead at 4 minutes on the clock, 160-154.
Blondie takes a trip to the box at the end of a points-heavy jam, leaving the Punishers jammer-less for the next jam, but Brutals’ Kitty Bomb takes her place almost immediately at the start, switching the powerjam in the Punishers’ favor. We are in the last precious moments of the bout, and it is anyone’s win at this point. Punishers’ jammer Crushstacean, proving herself to be a skilled jammer early on in the game and in games previous, takes a major penalty in the start of the next jam sending Punishers’ fans to squirm in anguish as Puke Skywalker gets yet another powerjam as we see Punishers blockers getting sent to the box left and right, leaving only Translucid and Mercedes Bunz to take on Puke Skywalker.
In the last jam of the night, Sandy Ravage takes on Folsom Bruise at the jammer line and breaks through the pack first but a minor penalty keeps her from taking lead and Folsom calls it before she can reach the pack again, denying her of the winning point of the night, sending the game to Connecticut, with 169-168, Brutals.
Sandy Ravage takes a well-earned MVP for the Punishers, and Kitty Bomb is granted MVP for her team, the Yankee Brutals. It was a well-fought game all around, and all of the rollergirls involved should be proud.
For the Punishers, Sandy Ravage was the highest scoring jammer, with 60 points overall, and B-Line Blondie not far behind, having scored 58! Puke Skywalker of the Yankee Brutals raked in the most points for her team, bringing home 49 in total for the whole bout!
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| B-Line Blondie takes a hard hit from Brutals' Babe Vigoda. |
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| B-Line Blondie encountering some heavy blocking by JK LMNOP. |
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| Punishers' Cali N. Tay takes on Folsom Bruise, jamming for the Brutals. |
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| Punishers' Habeas Corpsemaker and Shar'n Da'Hurt keep Puke Skywalker back. |
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| MVP Jammer for Petticoat Punishers, Sandy Ravage |
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| The girls (and guys! Can't forget coaches and bench managers!) of the Petticoat Punishers and the Yankee Brutals posing with announcers, Banshee and Capt. Skidd |
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| MVPs Kitty Bomb of the Yankee Brutals and Sandy Ravage of the Petticoat Punishers posing with Bootiful Banshee and Capt. Skidd! |
