In the next point, with only 1:37 on the clock, Roxy Montano crawled into the snake and took up a prime position to pick off Krista Titus and then trade with Daniela Rojas, leaving the Blanco sisters remaining for the Heroines.
Gerkary“ Tata” Blanco in doritos, was looking inside and took a shot to the knee. The field judge called her clean, but missed a signal from the head ref upstairs calling her out. At the same time, Andreina“ Nana” Blanco, from the snake, shot Tami Adamson, opening up the snake side. Going forward under the premise that she was ruled clean by the field judge, Tata would run past the last remaining Femmes player who was still alive in the middle of the field, and launched on the buzzer with only 2 seconds remaining on the clock for what would have been a 5-4 win.
Phones all over the sidelines came out of pockets, and coaches, referees, and pit crews turned to the GoSports livestream for evidence on the call. A dispute broke out as to whether there was a penalty at all. And if so, was it a major or a minor? After a long review, the referee crew acknowledged their mistake, overturned the score, and charged the Heroines with a major penalty for playing on. Despite the fact that Tata did not fire her gun again, she had hit the buzzer with a hit on her. So, the Femmes would be awarded a point, and another point would be played with only 2 seconds left on the clock, and the Heroines down one body.
Needless to say, the Heroines would fall in a 5-4 defeat, and the Femmes would move on to face the High Rollers on the Pro Field.
In the finals, the Femmes showed dominance over the High Rollers in a 5-1 victory. The play of the match went to Lysette Barnes who found herself surprised as she stood up out of the snake in the third point of the match. As the body count dwindled, Barnes made a move toward the buzzer, clearly assuming that the field had been cleared. She was surprised by a shot from the last remaining High Roller player on the opposite side of the field and made a reflexive and athletic snapshot out of the last dorito bunker that sent the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
This victory would mark the Femmes first time at the top of the podium since the launch of the WNXL.
Photos By John McGloughlin
084 paintball. media magazine