East Consolation: 3E Montreal Squishes 9E Dutchland, 413-98
BURLINGTON, VT -- Kicking off day two of the Sugarbush Showdown were Montreal and Dutchland, two teams bruised both by their losses on the opening day and the manner of those losses. Dutchland went down heavily against Carolina in a bout that laid their recent personnel issues--they've lost key skaters and coaching staff in recent weeks--bare for the world to see. Montreal opened strongly against London, but blew a significant first half lead before self-destructing in spectacular fashion in the second half with one major unforced error that sealed their fate.
Dutchland bettered their opening-day scoring, but their defence remained as porous as ever, while Montreal did not repeat the error that ended their opening bout as a contest. The Canadians joined Gotham in the history books as they racked up the third 400-point total in playoff play on their way to a crushing 413-98 win over the ladies from Pennsylvania.
Montreal made three changes from the team that lost to London; jammer Greta Bobo joined the roster, as did heavy hitters Trash N' Smash and Surgical Strike. Montreal's 2011 stand-out blocker and recent injury returnee Smack Daddy made way, along with Lady J and The Honey Badger. My Hellody and Sistine Shrapnel sat this one out for Dutchland, with Porsche Bloxter and Punk Sue Tawney coming in.
A 3-0 for Dutchland opened the bout as Skid Ho took the first lead call--but Lil Mama refused to let her complete her scoring pass. Bone Machine, Trash N' Smash and Chasing Amy then controlled JK Trolling at the back of the pack for all two minutes of jam two, and Iron Wench put up a natural 30-0 to set a dominant lead that was never threatened. Bela Lowblowsi made it two lead calls from three jams for Dutchland as they refused to let Montreal have it all their own way, but the two points she scored didn't make much of an impression on that Montreal lead.
A 4-0 for Ti Loup was followed by a 14-0 for Apocalipstix as Lil Mama held Skid Ho at the front, and a 9-0 for Iron Wench made it 58-5. In the next jame Georgia W Tush beat up Bela Lowblowsi and frustrated the Dutchland jammer to such an extent that she ended up in the box on a major backblock call; it was 77-5 with Greta Bobo called it just as Bela stood.
It was 90-5 when a fourth minor was called on Iron Wench for a cut forced by relentless hitting to the infield from Twisted Scizzors. Skid Ho only managed to add 8 during that penalty as Chasing Amy and Jess Bandit held the Montreal defence together for much of the resulting powerjam. Unfortunately Dutchland's pack couldn't repeat the same sort of defence next time out when Twisted Scizzors was boxed on a major cut; that made the score 112-16 courtesy of Ti-Loup.
Ten Montreal points later Apocalipstix got a major cut of her own letting K-T Boundary leap, spin and juke 15 more points onto the board for Dutchland; when that two-minuter was finished Montreal led 131-34 as the period entered its final ten minutes.
Wench then let the next jam run despite Twisted Scizzors making it onto a scoring pass--that decision was vindicated as she put up a 23-4 and Twisted ended up in the box on a fourth minor. It was 154-38 when Greta Bobo was boxed 55 seconds into Twisted's penalty for a major backblock. Georgia W Tush, Mange Moi el Cul and Jess Bandit ran some effective defence alternately racing the pack speed and holding Twisted in a tight swarm; that two-minute jam made it 161-45 with under five minutes to go 'til half time.
Punk Sue Tawney took advantage of a light Montreal pack and a cut major call on Greta Bobo to put up seven--but then was boxed on a backblock call, and Greta Bobo used a pack advantage of her own to make it 178-52 at the half, despite some defensive heroics from Bela Lowblowsi.
A powerjam early in the second half let Apocalipstix and Iron Wench push it to 218-52. Skid Ho put points on the board at the whim of lead jammer Apocalpstix under instructions from her bench, but was boxed on a fourth minor as the jam ended. A 24-0 for Wench polished off that powerjam and made it 255-60; a natural 29-0 for Ti Loup followed as Cheese Grater decided it was her turn to demoralise a Dutchland jammer, repeatedly frustrating Punk Sue Tawney for almost the whole two minutes.
Montreal's dominance continued; Dutchland's only points went up when Montreal allowed it. It was 348-64 when Dutchland put up their first natural grand slam of the game as JK Trolling, Josie Cuervo and Spinal Snap combined to allow Twisted a rare jam win with a 9-0 over Apocalipstix. A 24-8 between Wench and Skid Ho followed as Montreal continued their attempts to draw penalties from Dutchland's jammers.
When Bela tried the same trick with lead next jam with a 4-2 pack advantage it backfired when she picked up a major of her own. The damage was limited when Apocaipstix was sent off, waved back on, and then took a seat in the box anyway. Bela pushed Dutchland closer to the century mark as that jam ran to its natural conclusion with Montreal leading 386-94. A long official time out followed; Apocalipstix was sprung from the box by the officials as Bela Lowblowsi was returned to serve the last few seconds of her previous penalty.
Wench pushed Montreal to 400 in that brief powerjam as Bella pushed Dutchland to 98. 13 points closed out the final two jams for Montreal, and the bout finished a decisive 413-98 to Montreal. Montreal face Boston at 8p.m today for a place in tomorrow's fifth-place game; Dutchland will play the loser of Steel City and DC for tenth at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
