The bruising defensive prowess of Surrey’s Doomsday Bunnies proved to be too much for the Sea to Sky Sirens on Saturday (June 7).
The Sirens fell 203-117 at Brennan Park in a game that got away from them at the 12-minute mark of the first half. Up 33-27, the Bunnies eventually hopped over the Sirens at the 19-minute mark and didn’t lose the lead again.
“It went really well for us today,” said Bunnies head coach Iron Fist. “We had a goal of keeping together and the girls did really well tonight.”
Fist explained that the Bunnies often start slowly and that was the case against the Sirens.
“We need to get our legs going and try to get rid of all our bad jams early,” he said, laughing. “Sometimes, like tonight, there are a few more left.”
He said his team’s strategy was to focus on shutting down the Sirens offensively.
“We basically wanted to contain their jammers,” he said. “We know our jammers can fight through so we just focused on team defense. The Sirens are a classy team – they’re very strategic and have good formations but we have a lot of bruisers.”
The Bunnies were led in the second half by Wild Thing, who scored an impressive 71 points on four jams. Alotta Fury was named the jammer of the game for the Bunnies, with Rogue Hazard being awarded the blocker of the game.
It was a tough bout for the Sirens, as players Miko Suave and Mysty Mischief both suffered injuries and were forced to miss game action. Despite the physical battle, Carin “Sweetie Gonzalez” Smolinski said it was a fun game.
“They [the Bunnies] were awesome,” she said. “It was such a good game to play in for us. We love it when it’s not a blowout and when we feel like it’s a well-matched team for us. I think everyone enjoyed it and it was really hard hitting – it was a rough game, we’re a little battered.”
Smolinski said the Sirens inability to secure lead jammer ultimately cost them points and the bout.
“We were trying to be really strong defensively off the line and I felt we played strong defense but we needed to protect our points more,” she said. “We would play good defense and they would still score a few points and that adds up.”
The Sirens struggled to score points and the top scoring jams for the team in the first half were Mischief (14 points), Rowdy Roddy Pippa (12 points) and Honey Badger (nine points).
Mischief was named the top jammer of the game, while Smolinksi was thrilled to win top blocker.
“In three years I’ve never won a skating award until tonight,” she said. “I’ve changed from jamming to blocking and I’m loving blocking. I love the strategy and how I can be a leader on the track because I have a big and loud voice.”
The Sirens return to Brennan Park for the team’s final bout of 2014 on July 5. Stay tuned to The Ƶapp for more details on that event.