Fort Wayne, IN

Denver nabs first spot in Championships, London to play for third seed

By Whacks Poetic

The (1) Denver Roller Dolls from Denver, Colorado faced off against the (4) London Rollergirls from London, UK for the first time in WFTDA history on Day 2 of 2013 WFTDA D1 Playoffs in Fort Wayne. The first place seed was not particularly challenged by their game against the Cincinnati Rollergirls on Day 1, but playing 4 Seed London Brawling would not prove as easy, as the intercontinental visitors know how to keep a game exciting until the end. They put up a tough fight, but Denver secured their spot in the 2013 WFTDA Championships.

Denver hit their stride right out of the gate putting up 17 unanswered points in the first two jams. London, however, proved yet again how adaptable of a team they are. In the third jam, Wilhelm got lead for Denver and Rogue Runner was sent to the box as London’s jammer for a track cut. London Blockers managed to force Wilhelm to cut the track and Rogue came back on to score 10 points, London’s first of the game. Kamikaze Kitten, in the next jam, managed a 24 point powerjam with the pack heavily favored London the entire time, taking the lead in the game 34-32. In the very next jam, however, Lady Go-Go was sent to the penalty box on a track cut and the London Roller Girls found themselves defending against a powerjam with a 4-2 pack advantage. Gator Dunn was still able to lap the pack several times and scored 14 points for Denver. This was followed by a 30-0 jam for Adams when Lexi Lightspeed, the London Rollergirls' jammer, spent much of the jam attempting to pass the star to London Rollergirls pivot, Shaolynn Scarlett.

Photo by John Wijsman

In jams seven and eight, Denver’s blocker skill was highlighted. Sharpless was spending two minutes in the box as the Denver jammer and the Denver blockers managed to hold London’s jammers Kamikaze Kitten and Stef Mainey to only 18 points. It took Stef Mainey one minute of pushing against the Denver four-wall to get lead jammer status.

"We knew coming in that Denver’s walls were amazing and that as a jammer it takes a lot of energy out of you," said London jammer Kamikaze Kitten. "Every time we play a new team we learn. We tried out some strategies for dealing with walls like Denver’s and will be even better next time we play them."

Denver and London then traded jams with Wilhelm scoring 12 and then Kamikaze Kitten scoring 15. The score after ten jams stood at 88-67 for Denver. The jam trading continued with single scoring passes until Kamikaze Kitten sat in the penalty box for a back block with 5 minutes left to the half and Denver jammer Wilhelm scored 23 points. After a few more minutes with both teams putting some points on the board, the score stood at 126-94 for Denver going into halftime.

The second half began with Denver picking up lead and a couple of points and then calling it twice. At the end of the second jam though, the Denver jammer back blocked a London skater and was sent to the box. Kamikaze Kitten started the next jam unopposed on the jammer line and with a 4-2 pack advantage. She scored 19 points and pulled her team to within 20 points of Denver, 133-113. The teams traded 4-0 jams and then Wilhelm cut the track. Kamikaze Kitten faced a 4-2 Denver pack advantage who kept her to only 3 points. In the next jam, London jammer, Lexi Lightspeed cut the track on her first scoring pass and Denver capitalized scoring 15 points. They repeated the feat in the next jam when Stef Mainey was sent to the box as the London jammer for blocking to the head. With the score at 174-149, Wilhelm was sent to the box as the Denver jammer and Kamikaze Kitten worked with her London blockers to gain 24 points, thwarting the Denver three-wall.

The score remained around a 40 point spread until the third to last jam when Adams was sent to the box on a track cut and Kamikaze Kitten put up 30 points closing the gap to 208-190. The next jam started with 3 minutes remaining on the period clock, a 2-2 pack, and Lester and Mainey on the line for Denver and London respectively. Lester got lead and Mainey was sent to the box on a low block. Lester returned the favor going to the box on a back block as the blockers who had been penalized in the previous jam returned to the track. The jam ended with the scoreboard showing 52 seconds remaining on the period clock and a 224-195 lead for Denver. Kamikaze Kitten started the next jam alone on the jammer line with a 3-2 pack advantage and Denver jammer, Lester standing in the box with less than 10 seconds left in her back blocking penalty. Kamikaze got lead jammer and Lester was penalized for Skating Out of Bounds within seconds of returning to the track from her penalty. Before the jam was over, however, Kamikaze Kitten was called on skating out of bounds and Lester was sprung from the penalty box. The final whistles blew and Denver advanced to the first place game 234-210.

"We’re happy to have secured our place in at Championships but we’re gunning for first in this tournament," said Denver's Tracy Akers.

The Denver Roller Dolls will be playing for first place in the 2013 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Fort Wayne tournament at 6 pm Sunday night and are guaranteed a ticket to 2013 WFTDA Championships (November 8th-10th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) while the London Rollergirls move to the third place game and must fight for a spot at the 2013 WFTDA Championships tournament at 4 pm Sunday afternoon.

Final Score

(1)Denver Roller Dolls 234
(4) London Rollergirls 210