Kitchener-Waterloo, ON

By Whacks Poetic

The final bout on Friday night at the 2014 WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs in Kitchener-Waterloo saw two teams on the flat track who have never played at WFTDA Playoffs before. The Rideau Valley Vixens (Ottawa, ON) entered the tournament as the 3 seed and the Boulder County Bombers (Boulder, CO) came in as the 6 seed. While showing resiliency and promise, the team from Colorado was overpowered by their Canadian counterparts and Rideau won the bout 239-130.

Photo by By Steve Jurkovic

Rideau looked textbook out of the gate, playing the same defense on all of Boulder’s jammers and all three Rideau jammers, Soul Rekker, Shania Pain and AustinTatious, consistently getting lead and at least a 4-0 pass. Rideau went off script in jam 9 with the Colorado jammer and then the Ottawa jammer going to the penalty box. Rideau, who had been in the lead 37-4 saw their lead diminish by 10 points thanks to the jamming of Smashalotapus. With 15 minutes elapsed, Smashalotapus was the only successful jammer for Boulder having scored all of their 16 points against Rideau Valley’s 50 points.

MissFortune Cookie and Meg My Day would soon add their names to the point scoring list, picking up 4-0 jams against the Canadian team. Boulder County increased their point total to 36 and come within 18 of their opponents in black with a 12-point jam by Smashalotapus. In Jam 22, Short Stack would become the final Boulder jammer to earn lead jammer status the scoreboard reading 71-40 for Rideau and 4:21 on the clock. The final jam of the period started as a power jam with Short Stack in the box on a track cut and AustinTatious on the jammer line. AustinTatious would lap the pack 4 times scoring 14 points in the process before the final 4 whistles blew.

The second period started with an invigorated Rideau Valley, Soul Rekker taking 4 seconds to secure lead and another 20 to score 9 points. Jam 3 saw both teams acquiring 2 penalties apiece and left the score at 118-52 for Rideau. If Rideau looked precise, Boulder looked promising, changing their blocking structures in the second half to deal with Rideau’s offensive hits and holding Rideau jammers at a near stop at times. However, a trifecta of penalties across two jams on CatastroPhoebe allowed Rideau to increase the score differential scoring 55 points in two jams and taking a 108-point lead into the final 15 minutes of the game.

Boulder’s penalty troubles continued and Rideau steadily increased their lead to 222-93. Boulder adapted again and pushed back while Shania Pain sat in the box for Rideau, putting together a 19-point jam in the waning minutes. It wasn’t enough, however, and the game ended 239-130 in favor of the Canadian team.

“We feel pretty lucky to have our first ever playoff experience at home in Canada. This season has just been amazing and we’re so proud to be here," said Bottema, a Rideau Valley skater.

FInal score:

(3) Rideau Valley Roller Girls 239

(6) Boulder County Bombers 130

Rideau Valley plays 7 seed Gold Coast Derby Grrls (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) in the semifinals tomorrow night at 8 pm EDT. Boulder County plays Demolition City (Evansville, IL) in the consolation bracket at noon on Saturday.