March 14th, 2015 – Richmond, CA
In the first match of the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girl’s 2015 season, the Berkeley Resistance took on their cross-bay rivals, the San Francisco ShEvil Dead. When these teams met last, in August 2014, the Resistance rolled away with a definitive win, 268 – 78. Previous to that, the two teams had met four times and each team was victorious twice. Berkeley has been on a winning tear in the last two years with a record of 8 wins in 10 games overall but ShEvil was looking to even out their history to 3 – 3. The Berkeley Resistance extended their winning streak with a final score of 259 – 112 over ShEvil.
The Resistance immediately set the tone of this game in the first jam when Brawllen Angel was awarded lead jammer and Mean Burrito was sent off with a penalty. Brawllen scored a quick 15 to 0 jam. In the third jam, ShEvil again suffered a jammer penalty setback when Spiller cut the track. Frightmare scored 11 points for the Resistance before calling, bringing the total to 30 – 0. The Resistance would continue to build on their lead while keeping ShEvil off the scoreboard until the 6th jam, when Burrito was able to pick up a single point as she and Brawllen hit the pack at the same time and Burrito smartly ended the jam. With the scoreless streak snapped, Pressure Cooker was able to score 14 points for ShEvil in the next jam after Steely Jan was boxed on a track cut pulled by Slaybia Majora. Next up, Spiller quickly picked up four points while Frightmare was contained behind a hard hitting wall of Korn Holy-O, Nurse Lithium, Thea Venger, and Zia Later. At the end of the 8th jam, ShEvil had stifled the Resistance’s offense and brought the score to 37 – 19, Berkeley. In the 10th jam, both teams were able to add to their point totals as the jammers for each team took turns sitting out due to penalty. La Chica Mala, who had lead jammer status, was assessed a track cutting penalty while Xpress Lane Jane was sent off for a high block. When the two minutes expired, the Resistance still held the lead at 50 – 27. ShEvil again reset their defensive walls and held the Resistance scoreless for the next three jams. In the 15th jam, Xpress successfully passed the jam star to pivot Lithium at the start of a power jam as Steely was awarded a misconduct penalty for hitting Lithium while airborne and attempting to jump the apex. Lithium went on to score a whopping 17 points against Steely’s seven points, bringing the score to its narrowest differential at 57 – 54 Resistance. The Resistance immediately called a time out which proved wise as they went on to score a commanding 48 points in the remaining ten minutes of the half while allowing ShEvil to score only ten points. At halftime, the score stood at 105 – 64 Resistance.
To start the second half, the Resistance’s defensive walls, maintained by Dolly Rocket, Taxi Scab, Sasha Fierce, and Jambee, immediately put the game nearly out of reach for the ShEvil Dead. In nine of the first 10 jams the Resistance kept ShEvil completely scoreless while managing to pile on 94 points of their own. PC was able to score 15 points in the second jam but Steely scored 14 of her own in the same jam. At the start of the 11th jam, the Resistance had the lead with a score of 199 – 79. Next, Burrito lined up against Vile E. Coyote, who was boxed on a track cut, and Burrito scored a much needed 15 points, putting the score at 199 – 94. However, two jams later, Mala scored a 15 – 4 run for the Resistance, all but erasing the progress ShEvil had made. In the 18th jam, with the score at 218 – 105, the Resistance began a lead jammer run that stretched over six jams. With lead control, the Resistance once again kept ShEvil entirely scoreless during this run. Going into the last jam of the half, and with the score at 242 –105, PC was awarded lead over Frightmare. But PC was assessed a low block after tripping Foxy Throwdown. Frightmare, unable to call the jam, went on to score 17 points to PC’s seven. As the jam clock ran out, the Resistance had the win with a final score of 259 – 112.
Pressure Cooker, in her debut as a B.ay A.rea D.erby Girl, scored 40 points in 16 jams for the ShEvil Dead. Mean Burrito picked up 27 points in 17 jams. Spiller and Lithium each earned 17 points for their team, in 10 jams and one jam respectively. Xpress Lane Jane scored 11 points in six jams. Frightmare, a recent transfer from the DC Rollergirls, scored an impressive 78 points in 12 jams for the Berkeley Resistance. Brawllen Angel was hot on her heels with 75 points in 13 jams. Steely Jan scored 56 points in 11 jams and La Chica Mala scored 37 in six jams. Vile E. Coyote picked up 13 points over five Berkeley’s win was surely impacted by the low amount of penalties the team accumulated. With just 27 penalty minutes compared to ShEvil’s 39, the Resistance often had the player advantage on the floor. Both of Shevil’s leading jammers ran into some trouble with Burrito picking up three penalties and PC being sent off a devastating four times. Meanwhile, Steely picked up three jammer penalties for Berkeley. ShEvil had a total of 11 jammer penalties while the Resistance had just five.
Both teams are slated to play at B.A.D.’s summer double header on July 11th at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond. Opponents are to be announced at a later date.