Evansville, IN

London Beaches Jacksonville 232-136

by Ninja Sass'em

London (seed #1, ranked #3) used a second half rally to leave Jacksonville (seed #4, ranked #14) stranded 232-136 in game 9 of the international Division 1 WFTDA playoffs in Evansville, Indiana.

Jacksonville jammers quickly earned lead in first two jams but only put up one point between them. London struck back in Jam 3 with Stefanie Mainey putting up 9.

Jam 4 started with London's Lexi Lightspeed getting sent to the penalty box on a track cut, giving Erin Jackson a power jam and just like that the score was tied up 9-9.

Rogue Runner was sent to the box twice in Jam 6, once for a track cut and then subsequently for a back block. By the end of Jam 7, Jacksonville had extended their lead 28-17.

London continued to be plagued by jammer penalties as Stefanie Mainey was called for use of a forearm in the next jam, allowing Jamsterella a single scoring pass before being released. London's Hell Vetica Black and Frightning Bolt giving her fits the entire time.

Jackson took the line again versus Lexi Lightspeed and threw up an additional 6 points to extend the lead 47-30.

London Coach Ballistic Whistle called a time out to regroup his team but it didn't seem help as Kamikaze Kitten was sent to the box on a low block the very next jam.

Jamsterella earned her first lead of the day in jam 14 while Jax blockers Kat Von, Meow Mix and Legs R Us held Rogue Runner for a minute and a half before she finally escaped and Jamsterella called after earning only 2 points.

In Jam 18 Rogue Runner went to work after Jacksonville jammer Krispy Kreme-Her was boxed on a track cut, but after two scoring passes Rogue made the same mistake and flipped the power jam in Jacksonville's favor. Rogue Runner blasted out of the penalty box and grabbed a quick 5 points completely untouched but back blocked Krispy at the end of the jam to go right back to the box.

London still held the lead 88-63, but Jax fielded top scorer Erin Jackson with a 4-2 pack advantage. It took 15 seconds for Jax to earn lead against a tough wall of Mainey and Kristen Lee. Jackson put ups 13 points and called it before Rogue could earn anything.

The first half ended with Jax blockers holding London scoreless for 3 straight jams., but London still head the lead 88-76.

Following Jacksonville’s Friday game, blocker Meow Mix said that her team "needed to clean up penalties, especially against London." And in the first half Jax was only showing 13 box trips to London's 26. Teetering on the penalty edge for London is blocker Shaolynn Scarlett with 6, and Kristen Lee with 5.

According to Raw Heidi the halftime discussion in the London locker room was "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt!!!" She elaborated, "We weren't prepared for how good the Jacksonville offense was and we really needed to focus on staying on the track."

Erin Jackson started the second half off putting up 3 for Jax while Kamikaze Kitten had a hard time escaping tough Florida pack.

But Rogue Runner came charging back and capitalized on back-to-back penalties from Jamsterella extending the London lead 103-79.

Jax bench coach Jeremy Strecker called a timeout with 22:08 remaining in the game and his team down by 36. However, there was no stopping London’s momentum at this point in the game.

London Brawling's solid pink brick wall led by Mainey and Lady Go-Go continued to give the Florida jammers fits all the while allowing London to grow their lead.

A penalty parade was to follow as both jammers and 5 blockers fill the box with 10 minutes left to play. London took advantage of the "diet pack" and extends the lead 195-105.

In the final minutes, Jacksonville again began taking momentum back, but it was too late to make up the point spread.

With 4 minutes left Stephanie Mainey dons the star against Krispy. Krispy slips out just ahead of Mainey and is able to grab 2 points.

Lexi Lightspeed attempted some jammer on jammer action off the line during the next start but earned a clockwise blocking penalty for her efforts. Meanwhile, Jamsterella was able to put up 9.

The final score was London Rollergirls 232, Jacksonville Rollergirls 136. London advances to the 1st Place game Sunday at 6 pm and is guaranteed one of the seeds to the international 2014 WFTDA Championships, while Jacksonville will have one final shot to claim a Championship spot against the loser of Texas Rollergirls vs. Windy City Rollers.

Final Score

(1) London Rollergirls 232
(4) Jacksonville Rollergirls 136