DC Holds Back River City, 185-109

By Lady Burn Johnson, Last updated Mon Jul 16 2012 9:39pm

WASHINGTON, DC -- On July 14, the River City Rollergirls (#17 East via WFTDA) traveled north to face off against longtime regional rivals the DC Rollergirls (#10 East via WFTDA). Although River City had been on the losing end of all three of their previous matchups with DC, they came into this bout fresh off a strong and record-setting showing at the East Coast Derby Extravaganza. DC, meanwhile, was riding high on a seven-game winning streak. Despite an early deficit, DC managed to mount an unstoppable comeback to triumph 185-109 over River City.

Jersey Jill got things started with a quick grand slam for DC, but was sent to the box soon after, freeing Forty-Ounce Bounce to rack up 10 for River City in the next jam. DC’s Lenore Gore answered with 14 points in the following jam while Chinese Cheker and Soledad kept Bridge Burner in the pack. River City got the chance to take back the lead when Lenore earned back-to-back box trips, but strong defense from Soledad, Velocityraptor and Chinese Cheker kept Venus Vegas from putting up any points, leaving the score 20-10 in DC’s favor.
   
After trading a couple of hit-and-quit jams, River City got another power jam opportunity midway through the half; this time Julia Bondage capitalized on a light DC pack to rack up 18 points, bringing the score to 34-24, River City. Two jams later, Thistle Hurt and Raven Darkhold kept Jersey Jill occupied while Forty-Ounce Bounce ballooned River City’s lead to 41-28.

But that’s where River City would stay for the next five jams, while DC added a total of 26 points to their tally, bringing the score to 54-41 DC. Rookie Frightmare helped increase DC’s lead further with two grand slams while Soledad, Chinese Cheker and Lenore Gore held Paris Kills back.
   
The Richmond team struck back with a couple hit-and-quit jams for standout jammer Raven Darkhold and Traumagotchi, bringing the score to 64-54 as the clock wound down on the first half. DC held Richmond there for the last few jams as they packed on a few more points, going into halftime holding a relatively small lead at 72-54.

DC came out strong in the second half, with Lenore Gore cementing the lead by racking up 21 unanswered points while Raven Darkhold sat in the penalty box and emerged to contend with the one-two punch of Chinese Cheker and Jackie Mae Day. Penalty trouble continued to plague River City’s jammers; two trips to the box in one jam for Traumagotchi freed Jersey Jill to score 15-0, followed by 14-3 for Lenore Gore, who persevered with only two blockers on the track and after absorbing some massive hits from Raven Darkhold and Thistle Hurt.

With DC up 125-57, River City called a timeout to regroup. Their strategic shakeup didn’t immediately pan out, though, as a botched star pass sent pivot-turned-jammer AABWS to the box while Lenore Gore added 10 unanswered points to DC’s tally. In the following jam, her shot at redemption was neutralized by DC’s Dual Hitizen, who emerged from the box to score 8 points to AABWS’ 9, bringing the tally to 143-70 in DC’s favor. The scoreboard stayed virtually static for the next several jams, until a power jam for Raven Darkhold at around the 10-minute mark added 15 points for River City, making the score 155-85.

Jersey Jill padded DC’s lead with another 9 points while Velocityraptor and Hoova Dayum kept the hits coming on Raven Darkhold, but the tireless Raven wasn’t finished yet. Two jams later, she capitalized on a power jam to put up 12 points for River City – but it was no match for the 17 points Dual Hitizen earned on her return from the box. Two non-scoring final jams kept the tally unchanged for the final minutes of the bout, with DC finishing on top at 185-109.

Next weekend, River City will take on both Little City (#22 South Central) and Queen City (#13 East) at home, while DC will head north to play Philly (#2 East) on August 11.