Sacramento, CA

GOTHAM GIRL ROLLER DERBY ALL-STARS STAKE THIER CLAIM TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

By Jezebelle Z. Bub

Coming off yesterday’s wins, first seed Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars (rank #1) from New York, New York, played fourth seed Rat City Rollergirls All-Stars (rank #16) from Seattle, Washington for a ticket to the dance in Sunday night’s international 2014 WFTDA Division 1 Championship game. Gotham comes out ahead, 297-92.

Gotham team captain and jammer Bonnie Thunders faced off with Rat City jammer Luna Negra in the first jam of the game. Gotham’s defensive line held Negra back until she got sent to the box followed by her pivot. Once out of the box, Negra broke through the pack, but only after Thunders raked up a 20-point lead.

In the second jam, Gotham jammer Suzy Hotrod maneuvered her way through the pack into the lead position. Rat City jammer Sintripetal Force slipped through, but not in time to score any points for Rat City.

Gotham jammer Bonnie Thunders zig-zagged through the pack in the third jam of the game. Thunders was literally tripped over on a fall, and then dove into the lead position— five minutes into the game, Gotham takes a solid lead, 34-0.

Strong three-walls made it impossible for Rat City jammer LeBrawn Maimes to dent the pack—even when Gotham’s jammer and then three blockers hit the bench. Maimes took advantage of only two Gotham All-Stars on the track, but soon all players returned from the box, and the both jammers worked hard to leave their stamp on the score board, 46-18.

When Rat City jammer Luna Negra took lead, using her blockers to weave through the pack, the crowd cheered wildly, happy to see the point differential thinning, 46-22. The two sides of the auditorium broke into a cheer, the right side calling “Rat,” the left side answering “City.”

An Official Review resulted in the ejection of Violet Knockout for egregious clockwise blocking.

With 43 seconds left in the first half, Gotham jammer Miss Tea Maven shot through the pack and then collided with teammate Roxy Dallas on her second pass. Maven barely got past Rat City blocker Raven Seaward. Rat City jammer passed the star to LeBrawn Maimes at the front of the pack, and the first half came to a end, 175-43 in favor of Gotham.

Gotham started the second half in the market for some quick score spikes. Gotham’s poison: knocking the Rat City jammers right off the jam line, then bridging back to stall the pack advance. In response, Rat City added a pinhole to the Gotham wall—passing that cover straight to the front of the pack.

Ten minutes into the second half, Rat City jammer RattleSnake attempted to hit Gotham jammer Bonnie Thunders off the line; but instead, Snake found herself trapped behind a wall of Gotham blockers. So Snake passed the panty to Carmen Getsome, but Getsome couldn't get some before Thunder called off the jam.

Jammer Luna Negra found her own tricks to get past Gotham’s blockers. Negra waved her hands in front of blocker OMG WTF in an attempt to psych her out. It worked, and Negra wrangled four more points for Rat City, 220-53.

Mid-panty pass, Gotham’s pivot-now-jammer Mick Swagger hit the penalty box for a cut the track, and in doing so, fouled out of the game.

With 1:41 on the clock, two Gotham blockers stood guard against three Rat City blockers. Rat City’s jammer Luna Negra took the outside and swam through the pack on her second pass as lead. Almost sliding though the third time, Negra attempted to take the outside on one foot, but her single foot wavered—she cut the tack and had to circle back to return behind the Gotham blockers freshly returned from the penalty box.

Last jam of the game: Rat City was down one blocker. This helped Gotham jammer Vicious van GoGo take a few quick dips through the pack before calling the game to a close, 297-92.

“It was obviously a tough game,” said Gotham’s Fisti Cuffs. “They are an incredibly hard-hitting team. Very skilled, and they have a history of being incredibly well-skilled. It was really fun to come out here and get some hits back.”

“I learned so much,” said Rat City Roller’s RattleSkate. “I learned that everyone is amazing — we are all skaters— and no matter where you are from, you can just skate.”

Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars will be taking on the winner of Game 12 for Sunday night for the Championship game. Rat City will play the losers of Game 12 Sunday at 4:00 p.m for third place.

FINAL SCORE

(1) Gotham Girls Roller Derby 297

(4) Rat City Rollergirls 92