Roller Dolls Fall Into Dire Skates
Coming down to the final 45 seconds of the bout, the Richmond Dire Skates roller derby team benefitted from a killer penalty situation called on the Lake City Roller Dolls, allowing the visiting Skates to escape with a 119-115 win at Eastlake Skate Center.
Leading 115-111 with just under two minutes to go Saturday night against a visibly bigger and more physical Richmond team, the Roller Dolls ran into a tough break when it was dealt a penalty, which took not only a skater from the track with a maximum foul, but also its captain to serve the penalty. The void on the rink allowed Richmond to scoot around the track virtually uncontested to grab the final set of points for the win.
See video of the Roller Dolls in action! Lake City Roller Dolls
The loss dropped Lake City to 2-1 in bouts this season, and sets into motion a prolonged break this summer. The Dolls are scheduled to be back in action on Aug. 25, but would have liked to head into the break with a little more momentum.
“We came up against a hard team, they hit hard, they were big and we knew that we would have to come out and try to hit them back to wear them down,” said Mouthy Magpie. “They came out with the win but it came down to just four points. You saw how many times they were on the ground.”
The Roller Dolls didn’t back down from the Skates, absorbing the punishment, including an ankle injury to jammer L Bow Peep late in the first half that had Peep miss the rest of the bout. The Dolls trailed by over a dozen points in the first half, but rallied with strong skating from jammer Brecken Urneck, who slipped in and out of the alleys formed by the bruisers up front. Urneck, who was forced to serve the penalty at the end of the second half, felt the pressure as the Dire Skates zoned in.
“They were gunning for me, but all I can do is stay low and hope they don’t catch me,” Brecken said. “We’re coming along, we’re growing. I feel like as a team, we have come together and have each other’s backs. Things are coming together for us.”
Coach Shawn of the Dead exhibited the spirit of the bout, working frantically to keep his best lineup on the floor with the precarious lead late, still felt his team showed well against Richmond.
“When you need points, and you have that many people in the penalty box, that makes things really hard,” Shawn said. “It is just one of those things, you use up players and that’s the way it goes sometimes. I thought we did pretty well otherwise.”
The Dolls will host a camp beginning this Tuesday at Eastlake, inviting ‘Fresh Meat’ to try out for a spot on the team, and invite the community to see if they have what it takes to skate with the Dolls. For more information, visit the Lake City Roller Dolls’ Facebook page.
