Charleston, WV

By The Oxford Commakaze

In the first semifinal of the international 2014 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Charleston, the Rose City Rollers of Portland, Ore. (1 seed, WFTDA 5), fended off the Atlanta Rollergirls (4 seed, WFTDA 13) to solidify the team’s trip to Championships and its place in tomorrow’s final. Atlanta heavily challenged the higher-seeded Rose team in the first half, but Rose’s Wheels of Justice rolled away for the second half in a game marked by heavy defense, edge-of-the-track jamming and goofy camaraderie between both teams.

“They bring a real intensity, but also a playfulness, which I think is all you can ask for,” said Nattie Long Legs of Atlanta. “We put a lot of time and work into this sport, and we take it seriously, and we’re here because we love it. I think both teams brought that on to the track today, especially towards the end.”

Photo by Tyler Shaw

Neither team played a huge amount of offense, requiring a full contingent of blockers to control each other’s jammers. Atlanta drew first blood in the first jam, picking up three points in a jam that took both jammers nearly a full minute to escape the pack. Rose took the lead away in the next jam for the game’s first and only lead change, quickly building up a 27-3 lead by the end of the third jam after a chaotic pack forced a track cut on Atlanta jammer Choke Cherry. Rose jammer LickerNSplit racked up a huge 19-point jam, but had a rough time making it through a difficult Atlanta defense without offense once Choke Cherry returned to the track.

Although Rose retained the lead, Atlanta held the team to just three points in the next six jams, narrowing the gap to a 30-23 lead by Jam 9, forcing Rose City to start to use star passes to break their jammers out when Atlanta earned lead.

“We want to make sure we’re focused in the first 15 minutes of the game,” explained Nattie. “Historically, it sometimes takes us time to warm up.”

Rose quickly turned the tables, though, winning an official review to send the Atlanta jammer to the penalty box to kick off Jam 11 and racking up 17 points to widen the gap again. Atlanta tried to creep up in subsequent jams, putting up their first multiple-point pass in Jam 12 with 7 points, but Rose kept their jammers contained, repeatedly inviting them to step into a tempting hole between Rose blockers only to close the path off at the last possible second. Both teams relied on heavy defense through opposing power jams throughout the half, but even at even jamming strength, both teams continued to rely on heavy defense to contain jammers rather than an abundance of proactive offense. At the half, Rose had widened the gap to a 95-51 lead.

“We watched Atlanta a lot and we realized that their defense plays very similarly to us, so we knew that we really had to knuckle down on our defense to win this game because they are really, really strong out there,” explained Rose skater Hannah Jennings. “You’ve got good, strong, agile blockers with really heavy bracing. They were formidable opponents today.” The second half continued at the same grueling pace, marked by two-minute jams that wore down both teams’ endurance. A dominant run by Rose, capitalizing on two power jams, widened their lead to 138-55 in the first six jams, holding Atlanta to just four points even as Atlanta blockers Wild Cherri and Scout SnipeHer confronted Rose jammers with formidable two-walls moving the whole width of the track with Rose’s jammers.

Despite the increased point gap, Atlanta pushed harder against Rose, putting 10 points up in a power jam for Jammunition after Atlanta’s blockers drew a cut on Loren Mutch and held her upon reentry while Jammuntion completed her second pass. Atlanta also started to employ a more active offense as the game went on, switching immediately to quick offense if they lost the Rose jammer, even trapping Rose blockers within their sweeps to effectively force them to block their own jammers. But Rose’s defense proved impenetrable, keeping Atlanta to just five points when Rose jammer Loren Mutch picked up two track cut in a single jam, bringing the score to 161-77.

Mutch and fellow Rose jammer Scald Eagle drew cheers from their fans in the crowd for dancing along the track boundaries on their toe stops, repeatedly jumping through to remain in bounds even when it seemed gravity should have pulled them to the ground out of bounds. Although Rose continued to dominate the scoreboard, Atlanta kept putting up points while holding Rose to seven points in five jams, leaving the score to 189-81. In the second-to-last jam, Atlanta jammer Bruze Orman added nine more points on a power jam after Rose jammer Tess Yinger received a cut track penalty, adding to the competitively good-natured atmosphere by skating to the penalty box hand-in-hand with Atlanta’s Queen Loseyateefa, who was heading to the box on a forearms penalty.

Jennings, who also caught attention by doing a backwards somersault – complete with a gymnastics salute – in the last jam after a hard hit knocked her over, said that moment epitomized the friendly competition between the two teams, including many skaters who are Team USA teammates.

“Tess is a rookie to the team this season; Rose City home grown,” she explained. “You can tell that that meant a lot because when a jammer goes to the box, you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. When a blocker from the other team helps you get there, it just helps a lot.”

Mutch got lead jammer for Rose in the last jam and put up 18 points to go out, also allowing Atlanta’s Trouble MakeHer to add four points of her own while Mutch waited for the clock to wind down to call the game for a final score of 211-94.

Rose will play in the first-place game at 6 p.m. EDT Sunday, playing the winner of the Philly Roller Girls vs. Victorian Roller Derby League game today at 8 p.m. Atlanta will play for third place, and the last spot at the championship tournament in Nashville, at 4 p.m. EDT against the loser of the Philly-VRDL game.

Final Score

(1) Rose City Rollers 211
(4) Atlanta Rollergirls 94