Jacksonville, FL

By Lexistential Crisis

Game 2 of the 2015 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Jacksonville featured two teams that have never appeared in WFTDA Playoffs. Glasgow Roller Derby of Glasgow, Scotland rose in the ranks from 76 in January to 26 in June to earn the 7th Seed in Jacksonville. Charlottesville Derby Dames of Charlottesville, Virginia also benefitted from older games dropping off the rankings calculator as they climbed from 73 to 38 to edge into Division 1 Playoffs. Both teams had successful seasons leading up to Playoffs and proved that they are definitely on upswings in a close, defensive game.

Photo by Ryan Quick

Charlottesville earned the lead in the third jam of the game and held it for the entire first half. Unlike many games at Playoffs so far, the first half was not defined by jammer penalties. Glasgow only had one jammer penalty, a cut in the fourth jam, and their defense refused to let B-One Bomber to score more than five points. Charlottesville’s jammer committing a cutting penalty a jam later, and Rogue Runner was not able to score more than five points either. Glasgow managed to stay within 20 points of Charlottesville until the final eight minutes of the half. LeeLoo Dallas Multismash and Miller-Miller teamed up as the only Charlottesville blockers on the track to shut down Glasgow’s Megan Hydman. Glasgow’s defense wasn’t as successful as B-One Bomber pushed through their walls, giving Charlottesville a 35-point lead of 53-88. While Glasgow’s blockers were distracted by Charlottesville’s effective offense, that lead grew to 44 with five minutes left in the half. Charlottesville kept their walls together to keep the lead going into the half with a score of 73-115.

Strong defense and very few penalties helped keep the second half of the game even more interesting than the first. Glasgow came out strong and narrowed Charlottesville’s lead after scoring nine points in the first jam. They continued to limit Charlottesville’s scoring and challenged their lead throughout the second half. With 15 minutes left in the game, Chemikill Hazard, Trucks Norris, Sarah Oates, and jensykes worked together to contain Charlottesville’s jammer while Sarah McMillian scored 10 points. This brought Glasgow within two points with a score of 145-147. Charlottesville controlled the next four jams, but Marshall Lawless hopped through the pack while Miller-Miller neglected to call off the jam. This gave Glasgow their first lead of the game with a score of 159-157. In the following jam, Charlottesville limited their lead to one, and scored a few more points in the next jam to take back a lead of 159-160.

Photo by Ken LeBleu

With only three minutes left in the game, Charlottesville held a two-point lead and were gifted with their only power jam opportunity of the second half. Glasgow blockers joined their jammer in the box and Charlottesville’s Machete had the largest jam of the game with 23 points. This brought the score to 159-184 with only one minute left on the clock. Glasgow’s Rogue Runner earned lead jammer status and was on her way out of the pack when Forty Ounce Bounce landed a last-minute hit to drag her back into the pack. Rogue Runner had to call the jam as Charlottesville’s jammer was just about to start scoring. Glasgow took a team timeout with 19 seconds on the clock to create one more jam. B-One Bomber earned the final lead jammer status and called the jam off, ending the game, once the period clock was at zero. Charlottesville remained in control of the game when it mattered most to win with a score of 159-184. They advance in the tournament to play Denver Roller Derby tonight at 6:00pm Eastern. Glasgow moves to the consolation brackets where they will play Atlanta Rollergirls or Tampa Roller Derby.

Final Score

Charlottesville Derby Dames (#10) 184
Glagsow Roller Derby (#7) 159