Playoffs & Championships

London, Denver Enter as Top Contenders

Brooklyn Defiance
via Derby Central

The 2015 International WFTDA D1 Playoffs in Jacksonville, Florida could potentially end with a showdown between 1 seed London Rollergirls (#4) and 2 seed Denver Roller Derby (#5).

Other interesting games that will likely take place, if teams play true to their ranking, include hosts Jacksonville Rollergirls versus Detroit Derby Girls, and Atlanta Rollergirls versus Tampa Roller Derby in the second round. Glasgow Roller Derby will be making their debut at the WFTDA Playoffs this year.

The London Rollergirls took California by storm during what they called their “Brawlifornication Tour.” After stopping by the Bay Area to coach a bootcamp, London defeated the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls in a closed-door game, 150-76. After decimating Santa Cruz Derby Girls, 317-26, London travelled to southern California to take on the Angel City Derby Girls, Texas Rollergirls, and Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, where they swept the tournament.

London recently conquered Rose City Rollers at home by a margin of 64 points, which confirms that the London Brawling are in the running to take down reigning WFTDA Champions Gotham Girls Roller Derby if both teams advance to the 2015 International WFTDA D1 Championships in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as expected.

Denver took on the top-ranked team in the world twice this year. At home, they lost to Gotham by 135. When the teams met again in August, Gotham was able to extend their differential to 213.

At the 2015 HomeTown Throwdown, Rose City played host to the Mile High Club, Bay Area, and Vancouver’s Terminal City Rollergirls All-Stars.

Denver lost to Rose City, 250-161 but opened the game up with a strong presence. The Mile High Club beat Terminal City by a 159-point margin, showing their effectiveness on offense.

On day three, Denver defeated Bay Area, 168-144 in a game that came down to the final jam. Most recently Denver beat Philly 199-171 while visiting Gotham in New York.

Interestingly enough, Angel City allows for a good metric by which to judge many of the teams that will compete in Jacksonville.

At PAC Destruction in June, London played Angel City and won 218-117. In May, Angel City traveled to Atlanta where they beat Jacksonville 197-136, Atlanta 179-96 and Tampa Bay 207-128. Earlier this year, Jacksonville beat Tampa, 163-94. Jacksonville also edged out Atlanta early in 2015 by just 3 points. Game 3 of the Playoffs between Atlanta and Tampa should be an interesting matchup, not only because of their close rankings in the WFTDA, where they are #18 and #19, but taking into consideration how both teams performed against ACDG. Atlanta held Angel City to a lower score but Tampa, while allowing more points against them, were more successful offensively.

Game 6 between the Detroit Derby Girls (#21) and the Jacksonville Rollergirls will likely be contentious. This season marks the return of Detroit to Division 1 after conquering Division 2 last season, taking the Division 2 Championship.

Looking ahead to Game 12 in the consolation bracket, it is possible that we will see a rematch between Jacksonville and Atlanta or Tampa. This season Jacksonville was the victor against both teams by small margins. All three teams met fairly early in the season, leaving plenty of room for a different outcome this time around.

Rounding out the bracket are the Charlottesville Derby Dames, Pikes Peak Derby Dames from Colorado Springs, and Steel City Roller Derby.

As always, tournament play can yield unexpected results, and this year’s D1 Playoffs in Jacksonville, Florida should be no exception.

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