You win one, you lose one.
That was the case with Toronto Roller Derby's CN Power squad during day one of Quad City Chaos 2011 on Saturday, March 26, 2011.
The first of the two-day showdown matched CN Power with two formidable teams, namely the Rideau Valley Vixens (Ottawa) and New Skids on the Block (Montreal), the latter an official member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Rideau Valley was up first, and CN Power came out fighting. Star jammer DefeCaitlin exploded in the early part of the match, helping the home team open up an early 14-0 lead over the stunned visitors. With momentum building, CN Power's Land Shark and Candy Crossbones inflicted more damage, widening the gap to 37-0 before the Vixens' jammer Soul Rekker notched two points to put her team on the board.
But the hammering continued, with CN Power building a commanding 85-5 lead by halftime.
The Vixens came out in the second half with fire in their eyes. Soul Rekker earned lead jammer status early on but didn't manage to score any points, as DefeCaitlin outskated her forcing the Vixens' skater to call off the jam.
After a hard struggle, CN Power's Sail Her Poon also managed to break through the pack and score while Candy Crossbones also outpaced her opponents with a helping hand from a teammate.
With the Vixens' Soul Rekker in a good position to score, she took an accidental trip to the penalty box but still managed to pick up some points in the jam to make the score 104-7.
The Vixens were hitting hard to CN Power's blockers put up a wall while Sail Her Poon sailed around the track to inflict more damage on the scoreboard, while Ripper A. Part of the visiting squad earned four points the following jam.
CN Power was caught late for having too many skaters on the track, and shortly after the Vixens took advantage of the brief shift in momentum to double its point total in a single jam to 36.
But while the Vixens remained physical for the remainder of the match, the tired CN Power team held on for a 156-40 victory.
The second match of the day for Toronto that afternoon was a different story.
The high-ranking New Skids turned the tables and laid an early beating on the home team, opening a 10-1 lead. But DefeCaitlin, who didn't see a lot of action in the earlier bout, skated hard to close that gap to 10-5.
Land Shark was hit hard and she stayed down, prompting the on-call paramedics to check her out. While she was OK, the Montreal team widened the score to 25-5. Titmouse then donned the jammer's star and quickly passed it off to Dyna Hurtcha during a jam, but were unsuccessful in scoring as Montreal continued to dominate.
CN Power worked well as a team to block but the New Skids were just too quick. With the score at 79-5, DefeCaitlin fired up the crowd by grabbling lead jammer position and lighting up the board to close the gap to 81-10.
With Candy Crossbones in the penalty box, and Titmouse sent to the sin bin shortly after, the visiting team built a huge 152-10 lead at the half.
DefeCaitlan got things rolling on a high note in the second half, again firing up the home spectators with a four-point rally. But CN Power failed to capitalize on a Montreal penalty and the score was 216-17 at the mid-point of the second half.
Titmouse showed another flash of speed as she became lead jammer but was again sent to the penalty box. Candy Crossbones refused to let up, getting knocked around but staying on her feet to the delight of the fans.
But CN Power's determination wasn't enough, dropping the match 284-21.
Toronto will face WFTDA's Tri-City Rollergirls Thunder at 4:20 p.m. on Sunday, March 27.
