You could call it a "Spit-take Score"
The sight of the Old Capitol City-Stateline result from Saturday night may have done just that, as Roller Girls eviscerated the Derby Divas, 303-69. But perhaps the people who were most surprised at the final score were the Old Capitol City Roller Girls, themselves.
"We were very surprised with the score also," said Old Capitol City Blocker Toxic Sugar. "We knew a little about the Divas, but not a lot. We were told by other teams that we have played that we would be a good match up with them as far a experience and skill level."
Because of the potential of a very even match-up, Old Capitol City's Furyis Jorge said the Roller Girls stacked their line-up with available veterans who were not out due to injury. Unbeknown to the Roller Girls, Stateline was hit with numerous injuries, most notably Diva Jammer
The Warrior, not to mention other ailments keeping many vets out.
The exploitation of the unseasoned Diva girls proved extremely important in the tactics of the Roller Girls.
"OCCRG had a solid wall most of the night and focused primarily on the opposing teams' jammer; in short, we played a lot more defense in the pack than offense," Furyis Jorge said. "This strategy worked in our favor because Stateline's jammers were just so fresh and our jammers did not need a whole lot of help from our blockers. This allowed us to hold lead jammer status most of the night and call off a jam before Stateline could score any points."
This strategy paved the way for the explosive Roller Girls arsenal of Jammers to go to work racking up points. According to Toxic Sugar, Gladi8her, Left 4 Deadwards, Ophelia Fracture and Triple D. Zaster, racked up huge points.
Furyis Jorge said two skaters from fresh meat, Holm Wrecker and GigaHurtz, played in their first bout on Saturday and both made valuable contributions in the jamming and blocking departments.
Toxic Sugar said the win was proof of the progression of Old Capitol City over the course of the season.
"Honestly, we have come a long long long way as a team in the past few months, especially since getting pounded by the Flyin' Squirrels (Appleton, WI) at out season opener," said Old Capitol City Blocker Toxic Sugar. "We have advanced so much in strategy and skill, but mostly, we really skate as a team. We don't win bouts alone, we do it together."
The victory by Old Capitol City paves the way for a climatic season ending showdown with the Mid Iowa Rollers in Des Moines. MIR at the time of this writing stands undefeated on the season.
"As far as MIR, we are pumped!" Toxic Sugar said. "We know going in that MIR will be our greatest challenge of the season. We must work hard, play hard and think smart and fast. They have a huge amount of experience and skill and look forward to playing and learning from them! I think we need to stay focused and connected. I have a feeling it will be a very great bout!"
