Kitchener-Waterloo, ON

by Whacks Poetic

In the first semifinal game at the 2014 WFTDA Division 2 Kitchener-Waterloo playoffs, the 4 seed, Killamazoo Derby Darlins (Kalamazoo, MI) took on the 9 seed, Bear City Roller Derby (Berlin, Germany). Bear City Roller Derby made it to the semifinals by upsetting both Demolition City and the tournament’s 1 seed, DC Rollergirls yesterday. The Killamazoo Derby Darlins made it via a victory over the Chicago Outfit. In the end, Bear City booked their tickets to Nashville for Halloween weekend winning the semifinal, 232-185

Photo by Steve Jurkovic

The first half saw two very different scoring strategies. Killamazoo was putting up points via single scoring passes in multiple jams. Bear City was scoring large numbers in a few jams and then often being held scoreless. Bear City jammer, Master Blaster would put up 99 points in the first half jamming every other jam while her teammate, Kozmic Bruise, would get Bear City’s first lead jammer status of the game and substantially up her performance from yesterday’s games.

“Normally, we like to play the long game. Single scoring passes, consistently getting lead," Master Blaster said. "Today, we had to capitalize on the opportunities to get the big jams when they happened though.”

Killamazoo came into the second half with a new plan. The Michigan team alternated between the back wall and pivot line on jam starts more frequently and stifled Master Blaster, drawing several penalties from her the process and forcing her to cede the jamming to others on Bear City.

“Each individual line started to learn and analyze Bear City’s style. We continuously adapted and made sure we were flexible to go with what was working," said Killamazoo skater Neva Soba, explaining how the team progressed through the game.

With all of Bear City’s jammers better neutralized, Killamazoo began slowly chipping away at Germany’s lead, bringing it to within 5, 158-153, with eleven minutes to go. At that point, Bear City took a gamble and when Catherine Beat-Her Bonez emerged from the penalty box, she passed the star to Master Blaster. The gamble paid off and Master Blaster scored 20 points in that jam, energizing the team to then go on a 31-0 scoring run. Killamazoo reined them in and managed to win the last three jams of the game 27-23 but could not overcome the deficit, losing the semifinal 232-185.

Final Score

(9) Bear City Roller Derby 232
(4) Killamazoo Derby Darlins 185

Bear City will play for first place tomorrow at 6pm and Killamazoo will play for third. Their opponents are pending the outcome of the Gold Coast Derby Grrls versus the Rideau Valley Roller Girls bout at 8pm Saturday.