Playoffs & Championships

By Deadwards
via Derby Central

As announced earlier this year, WFTDA membership approved extra games at Championships for Division 2 teams, so the weekend of November 6-8 in Saint Paul, Minnesota will be the first time D2 teams will get to play two games at the big show, and play for proper placement like the Division 1 teams do. The #1 seed from each D2 playoff will take on the #2 seed from the other tournament starting at 10am CST on the first day of Champs. The teams will get a day off and then play for placement on Sunday, starting at 12pm CST.

At the D2 Playoffs in Detroit, all three of Nashville Rollergirls’ games got progressively closer, until their 5-point comeback win against Sacred City Derby Girls for 1st place. As the top seed in their bracket, Nashville first held #8 seed Sac City Rollers scoreless for six jams, but after two lead changes it was a 1-point game to start the second half. They were able to pull away in the second half, however, and took their first win by 70 points. Their semi-final game against Naptown Roller Girls felt more like a Championship game, as the tense back and forth matchup produced eight lead changes. Lady Fury emerged as the top scorer, and eventual tournament MVP, and Nashville won that game 233-209. In their final game, they took advantage of a penalty-heavy Sacred City, but did fumble with 13 jammer penalties of their own. Despite 61 overall fouls, Sacred City kept the game close, but a final power jam for Nashville let Lady Fury earn their winning 10 points.

The #5 seed at D2 Playoffs in Cleveland, Demolition City Roller Derby, on the other hand had a strong start to their weekend, holding Treasure Valley Roller Derby scoreless for 12 minutes, stretching it as far as 60-0. After holding them to just 20 points for the second quarter of the game, they took the win against the #4 seed 241-65. Next, they upset the #1 seed, after holding a solid lead against Santa Cruz Derby Girls for most of the game. Double-threat Stepheree fouled out of this game, but Demo held on despite a late surge by Santa Cruz to win 165-137. Their final game didn't come as easy however, and they were forced to make some adjustments to their jammer rotation mid-game to keep up with #2 seed Kansas City Roller Warriors. They did start with the lead, but after Kansas City tied it up twice, Demolition City struggled with a penalty-heavy Hurtz Donut, who sat in the penalty box for 6 out of 9 jams as jammer, and a hurting Lickety Splint, which helped Kansas City take 1st place by 29 points.

Even though they placed 1st in Detroit, Nashville had to fight the whole way through their bracket, resulting in a drop of three spots in the WFTDA Rankings from June 30th to October 4th, and now rest at #46. Demolition City, on the other hand, rose 21 spots to #29 after a much stronger team showed up to Playoffs than their season indicated. Flat Track Stats still places Nasvhille ahead of them though, and while they are predicting seeding to hold through this game, it looks like it may be a close matchup, as many of the D2 games at Champs in the past have been, only this time each team will be able to play again.

Kansas City came in as the #2 seed in Cleveland, and took on the #7 seed St. Chux Derby Chix in their first game of the tournament, winning by 69 points. Some penalty troubles did trip them up in this matchup, letting the score bounce back and forth a few times in the first half. The Roller Warriors took on #4 seed Houston Roller Derby the next day, and again had some lead changes in the first half before Kansas City took control and pushed ahead. JessiKaboom led scoring this game with 88 points, but A P Leasure (Reptar) led overall scoring for the weekend at 206 points. In their final game against Demolition City, the score switched back and forth again, but Kansas City's blocking really latched onto jammers to help aid in their 1st place victory. Bruz-Her came out as the weekend MVP after playing 34 of 41 jams in their final game, and helped Kansas City to their 171-142 win.

While Kansas City seemed to fall into penalty troubles against certain opposition, Sacred City was consistent with their high penalty counts. They averaged 50 total fouls per game in Detroit and totaled 37 jammer penalties across their three games. As the #2 seed in their bracket, they took on the #10 seed Bear City Roller Derby first, and after Berlin held the lead for six jams, Sacred City tied it up and then pressed on to take an 11-point win. The next day, Chicago Outfit worked up a 32-6 lead in the first seven jams, but then Sacred City kicked in and took the win by 50 points, despite picking up more penalties than the Outfit. Against Nashville is where the penalties mounted and took their toll, and skaters began to foul out with 15 minutes left in the game. Despite holding the lead by five points, Nashville took it from them in a power jam, sending Sacred to Champs as the #2 seed, 194-189.

Ariel-LA-Twister's speed and agility helped her top Sacred City's scoring at 229 points, but also contributed to their penalties with 11 over three games. They utilized a wider range of blockers while their opponents at Champs, Nashville Rollergirls, rely heavily on a core set of four blockers to play most of the game. Sacred City plays a solid game, and is even predicted to win by FTS, but in WFTDA Rankings, Kansas City jumped 11 spots since playoffs to sit at #34. Sacred City will have to get their penalties under control if they want a chance at the 1st place game in St. Paul, while Kansas City will have to ensure their core can endure these tightly matched games.

The fact that all four of these Division 2 teams all had a hard-fought path to Championships will make the upcoming games that much more exciting. We will find out if their seedings will hold true, or if it will be a battle to the very last jam.

The amazing D2 action is just a small piece of what you’ll see in Saint Paul. Get your tickets, or make your watch party plans to view live coverage on WFTDA.tv and ESPN3.

Read more coverage of WFTDA tournaments and sanctioned play on Derby Central.