Oly Upsets #12 Rose City, 157-151

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Wed Apr 8 2009 10:03pm

OLYMPIA, WA -- The Oly Rollers, currently unranked by either WFTDA or DNN but long viewed as one of the most potentially dangerous young teams in the sport, finally made good on their promise in a big way, taking down #12 Rose City in a high-scoring, high-penalty shootout, 157-151.

Though Rose City jumped out to a 14-0 lead on the bout's first jam as Oly's jammer Atomatrix was boxed while Rose City's D. Konstructor ran wild, it was mostly Oly for the first half of the bout. They took the lead over on the bout's 4th jam, 24-23, and opened up a 30 point late in the first half. However, Rose City was able to pull it together to close the opening 30 minutes, winning the last four jams of the half 16-1 and putting the halftime score at Oly 85, Rose City 68.

High jam scores continued in the opening two jams of the second half, with both teams pulling 14 points to increase the score to Oly 98, Rose City 82. But penalty trouble began to severely retard Oly's play here, leaving them often jammerless and/or dealing with packs lopsided in Rose City's favor.

Oly was hence shut out on the following four jams, and the Portland crew took the lead back on the 6th jam of the half, as Rhea DeRange made the most of her first turn with the jammer cap, dropping a 14-0 on Oly that put Rose City back in the lead, 106-98. And after another big Rose City frame -- 11-4 on another power jam -- Rose City had their biggest lead of the bout and all the momentum at 117-102.

That advantage vanished on the next two jams, though. Oly's Atomatrix rang up a 14-2 over D. Konstructor, and then a 5-0 grand slam for Oly's Heffer got the lead back for the home team at Oly 121, Rose City 119. The following series of jams were all shutouts, but Rose City only got on the right end of one of them -- 4-0 Oly, 6-0 Oly, 6-0 Rose, 11-0 Oly and 11-0 Oly  -- and with only about five minutes left to play, Oly was enjoying a 150-125 advantage.

The penalty situation once again exploded in Oly's face here, nearly fatally. In the final three jams, 5 different Oly skaters would be ejected, and in the penultimate jam, a jammer penalty on Oly's Heffer not only opened the door for RCR's Licker N Split to get an 8-0, it also allowed Rose City to start the final jam of the night with their jammer Rhea DeRange unopposed on the jam line as Heffer waited to return.

Rose City was 17 points down going into this jam, and Rhea picked up two grand slams for 10 points and looked like she had a chance to create the last-second comeback win. But Heffer was able to play effective jammer defense upon getting released from the box, sucking crucial time off the clock before getting 4 points of her own. Rhea's 15 points were not enough to close the gap, and Oly skated away with a hard-fought, high-intensity win that immediately proved them to be a serious national contender.

Stats

[update: the following stats are official]

Atomatrix was Oly's most-used and most-effective jammer with 63 points on 14 jams. Tannibal Lector (33 points on 6 jams) and B Tease N (27 points on 4 jams) were also primary point scorers. Oly's stable was rounded out by Heffer (17 points on 9 jams), Blonde N Bitchin (13 points on 4 jams) and Sassy (4 points on 1 jam.)

Rose City's jammer attack was somewhat more balanced -- Rhea DeRange led with 35 points on just 3 big jams, while D. Konstructor was right behind with 34 points on 11 jams. Scratcher in the Eye had 23 points on 5 jams, while both Cadillac and Licker N Split contributed with 20 points on 5. Blood Clottia kicked in 16 points over 7 jams, and Sump Pump (3 points) and Axl Blows (0 points) each took the star once.

Oly spent a full half-hour longer in the penalty box than Rose City, committing 49 majors to 19 for Rose City; the minor count was somewhat less lopsided, with 79 minors for Oly against 64 for Rose City.

Rose City gets little time to rest, as this weekend they have another battle against a Washington-state team, as they take on the storied Rat City Rollergirls, currently ranked #6 by DNN. Oly has another potential statement game ahead of them, as they take on rapidly-rising #10 Denver on April 11.

Additional reporting:  Elwood Bruise
Photos: Elayna Rose Photography

Edit:  This article has been edited since it was originally posted.  See comment below for details.