Windy City (#1) Holds Off Ohio (#5) to Advance to Championship Game

By Lois Slain and Vile Love It

Perennial queens of the North Central region, the Windy City Rollers, of Chicago, remain undefeated in their region despite a tough challenge from the Ohio Roller Girls, of Columbus, in Saurday’s semifinal round. They will take on either the Minnesota Rollergirls or Naptown Rollegirls in the final bout Sunday, and advance to the WFTDA Championships in November no matter what.

Veteran Ohio skater Amy Spears said the team knew they were going into the bout as significant underdogs.

“We just wanted to play a good game and keep it as close as we possibly could,” Spears said.

Photo by David Van Deman

The first 10 minutes featured multiple lead changes as the teams swapped jammer penalties. However, Windy soon settled into the lead position. Ohio, despite several strong scoring runs, never quite closed the gap, but did keep the score within easy reach until the last jam of the half. The first period ended 96-48 Windy after a big power jam by Windy City’s Jackie Daniels.

Windy City looked to be building on that lead at the start of the second period. However, after a disastrous penalty run for Windy City, including three consecutive box trips for jammer Kola Loka, Ohio made up much of their deficit, coming within 24 points of Windy City.

“We have struggled this year with penalties and we sometimes beat ourselves,” said Windy City Captain Ol’ Drrrty Go-Go.

Windy City quickly shook it off, though, shutting down Ohio’s jammers with their brutal defense and countering with a 24-point power jam of their own. Ohio rallied in the final few jams to tighten the spread a bit more, drawing vociferous support from the crowd, but it was not enough to recover the lead. Windy City will advance to the region championship bout and clinch a spot at 2012 WFTDA Championships.

Windy City Rollers (#1) 187
Ohio Roller Girls 135