Saint Paul, MN

By The Oxford Commakaze

In the first Division 2 upset at the 2015 International WFTDA Championships, the Sacred City Derby Girls (#2 seed from the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs Detroit) shoved past the Kansas City Roller Warriors (#1 seed from the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs Cleveland). The rankings-breaking win guaranteed a rematch of the nail-biter 5-point championship game from the Detroit playoffs at the Division 2 Championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m. CST.

Photo by Keith Bielat

“I think that we played our game. we didn’t let anything they were doing affect us, and we adjusted for ourselves and didn’t adjust for them,” Sacred City’s Neill N Weep said after the game. “We’ve been working on our penalty managemnt, not going solo and staying together so that we’re not getting the penalties because we feel that once we go on our own, that’s when we get the penalties because it’s desperate. We’re not going to be desperate, we’re going to be together.”

Sacred came out for first blood in a huge 23-4 jam, the biggest jam of the game, as Ariel-LA-Twister fended off bumps and jolts from Kansas City blockers Annie Maul, Lady Killshot and jammer-turned-pivot Mary Lou Wretched to catapult herself through the pack over and over. An immediate track cut on Kansas City Jammer JessiKaboom opened the door for another Sacred scoring run, but blocker Foxxi Brown was everywhere Sacred jammer Pink Freud wanted to be, holding her long enough to spring JessiKaboom from the penalty box and get her points as Pink Freud took her own turn in the penalty box for a cut track penalty.

Photo by Steve Jurkovic

Although Kansas City managed to post a few points, the first ten minutes of the game belonged solidly to Sacred as its forceful jammers proved just a hair more powerful than Kansas City’s walls could take, bringing the score to 41-17. A score-doubling power jam for Kansas City brought the game within single-digit points as jammer Track Rat jumped on a glut of penalties to Sacred’s jammer and half its blockers, pulling the score to 36-41, but the blockers who gave her such attentive offense were too caught up to hold the returning 4closer, forcing a call-off at 41-36. A quick hit-and-quit for Kansas City’s Case Closed brought the game within two points, but a well-timed power jam and consistently perfectly timed offense from Sacred blocker Talls kept the scoreboard increasing for the California team.

After holding Kansas City scoreless for six jams, Sacred doubled its lead to 80-39 with just over ten minutes left in the period. Kansas City got itself back on the board thanks to a power jam, but an exhausted Track Rat had to pass the jammer star to Enigma, who broke out of the pack just as the jam clock expired. Sacred jumped right back into scoring status with two unanswered jams as Gnar Gnar Jinx kept Kansas City jammer JessiKaboom tangled at the back of the pack as The 4closer grabbed a quick 4 points and called the jam just in time to pull a back block on JessiKaboom, opening the door for a 14-point power jam for Ariel-LA-twister with five minutes left in the half. Kansas City’s Case Closed picked up lead jammer just as Sacred’s Pink Freud went to a box on a back block, but called the jam from the ground after a clockwise high block leveled her (and resulted in an expulsion for Gnar Gnar Binx). Defense-heavy scrum starts kept the score low as the jam came to a close, with devastating lane-closing defense from Neill N Weep holding Kansas City’s Case Closed at bay on a power jam opportunity to close the half at 109-67 in Sacred’s favor.

The second half started out in Kansas City’s favor with a lead jammer call, but Sacred’s 4Ccloser shoved through to lap Kansas City’s Mary Lou Wretched to force an even call-off, a common occurrence in the second half. Ariel-LA-Twister sprinted out for a quick lead jam and kept the packs fast as Neill N Weep tangled with Kansas City’s JessiKaboom, ending with a forced call-off for Sacred thanks to a foiled apex jump — but not before posting 14 unanswered points. A quick 3-point jam kept Kansas City on the board, but backwards blocking by Mayhem Myers, Enigma and Tuff Noogies couldn’t hold back a 15-point power jam for The 4closer, pushing Sacred’s to 144-74.

Despite sliding into a scoring deficit, Kansas City shook off any creeping sense of desparation, snatching lead jammer in 4 of the next 5 jams, starting with a power jam for Track Rat as she fended of Talls and Rhodes Warrior to spin her way through the pack, but she only picked up 3 points after losing the jammer panty in the pack and barely retrieving it in time to call the jam off before the returning Ariel-LA-Twister hit the pack. Nonetheless, Kansas City brought the game back within 40 points to 149-113 with just over half the period left in the game.

A time-out for Sacred enabled the team to reset quickly, dominating with five lead jam calls in a row and a 59-20 scoring run despite rotating jammer penalties that could have been devastating for both teams. Fortunately for Sacred, the bulk of those jammer penalties fell on Kansas City’s JessiKaboom, who had to remain on the track for three jams in a row. Even a lead jammer call for Kansas City couldn’t stop Sacred’s burgeoning momentum as Ariel-LA-Twister beat first-time jammer Xcelerator for a 2-0 jam, bringing the lead to nearly 100 points with just six minutes left in the game.

Fast packs opened the door for a 14-point unanswered jam for Pink Freud as her blockers kept Kansas City’s Mary Lou Wretched trapped at the back, but first-time jammer Lady Killshot and Case Closed had time to stack a few more points on for Kansas City to bring the score to 228-147 with under two minutes left in the game. A quick 4-point jam for Ariel-LA twister left the game clock at just 20 seconds and no time-outs left for Kansas City, but an unused official review allowed Kansas City to force a final jam. Kansas City’s Case Closed successfully escaped as lead jammer, but fast packs left her trading points with Pink Freud with the game clock expired and the jam clock slipping away. With a one-pass lead, Case Closed won the jam 13-10, but Sacred had pulled off a decisive win over their Division 2 foes with a final score of 242-160.

FINAL SCORE

Kansas City Roller Warriors (Cleveland #1) 160
Sacred City Derby Girls (Detroit #2) 242