Detroit, MI

By Vile Love It

The #4 Seed Naptown Roller Girls (#44) and the #5 Seed Wasatch Roller Derby (#51) met on the derby track for their first ever sanctioned game against each other in the final game of Day 1 of the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs in Detroit.

Photo by Alexei Dodson/Rust Belt Raw

Both teams are veterans of the Division 1 Playoffs. Wasatch took 8th place at the 2014 D1 Playoffs in Salt Lake City and took 7th in the 2013 D1 Playoffs in Fort Wayne. Naptown took 6th place at D1 Playoffs in Charleston and 4th place at D1 Playoffs in Richmond. They went all the way to WFTDA Championships in 2012 and 2011.

Both teams have had some tough games this season; Naptown had a last-jam loss against Toronto Roller Derby (#32) in June and significant loss to the Detroit Derby Girls (#21). Wasatch went to Besterns and took on Terminal City Rollergirls (#27) and Rocky Mounty Rollergirls (#14) in two tough losses.

With only 4.35 ranking points separating the teams, it would have been a good guess that it was going to be a tight game and until the last 15 minutes it was a tight game, although with Naptown controlled a lot of the jams. However, Wasatch’s tight, cycling defense tamped down the point differential.

Like many games, penalties significantly contributed to the overall game play and the score outcome. Wasatch had 11 jammer penalties overall compared to Naptown’s 4. Wasatch’s jammer Ole Chole fouled out of the game.

Naptown certainly capitalized on those 7 extra power jams and that could explain a big component of the score difference.

The power jams started early and the first power jam of the game went to Naptown. With some quick stinging offense they earned 20 point, despite Wasatch’s blockers recycling Naptown’s jammer over and over.

Soon after, Wasatch adjusted their defense and their jammers began to get through for lead. They were able to settle into a strong defensive position and they climbed out of the deficit to within 9 points.

Naptown never let go of the lead, but Wasatch came as close as 2 points, and was certainly within striking distance of Naptown’s lead for much of the game. Both teams had formidable defensive walls when they had a full set of blockers on the track. Throughout the power jams, Wasatch’s defense held strong and did their best to limit the damage.

At the half Naptown had a 12-point lead, 81-69.

Naptown came out in the second half strong and owned lead jammer status but about 6 minutes into the second, Wasatch’s Sookie Slaphouse with a 15-point jam while her blockers kept Naptown’s Cherry-oto-Fire busy and they closed the gap to 91-84.

Naptown then shifted into another gear and locked Wasatch down for the next 8 jams preventing them from scoring a single point.

Back to back power jams when Ole Chole took three penalties in a row, seemed to sap the scoring energy out of Wasatch. On the other hand Naptown took full advantage and raced off.

It wasn’t until the end of the game when Stache Bot got a power jam and collected 19 points for Wasatch that they saw a glimmer of come back. But it was too late in the game and not enough to pull Wasatch close enough.

Naptown will move on to play #1 Seed Nashville Rollergirls in the semifinals for a chance to head to St. Paul, Minnesota, for D2 Championships.

Final Score

Naptown Roller Girls (#4) 181
Wasatch Roller Derby (#5) 131