Omaha, NE

By Lois Slain

Capping off a challenging weekend for both teams, Windy City Rollers (#5) and Toronto Roller Derby (#8) met on the track Sunday morning to see which team would be able to take home a win from the 2015 International WFTDA Playoffs in Omaha, Nebraska.

Photo by Donna Olmstead

Windy City fell to 4 Seed Montreal Roller Derby and the upstart 10 Seed No Coast Derby Girls over the first two days of the tournament. Toronto started their weekend with last-jam loss to 9 Seed and cross-border rivals Queen City Roller Girls and seemed to never quite regain their footing, taking a nearly 100-point loss to the Boston Derby Dames on Friday. Although the game started off close, Windy City was ultimately able to take a similarly sized win as Toronto struggled with jammer penalties.

The teams matched each other, trading momentum, power jams and the lead, for much of the first half. Windy City picked up the first lead jam status and points of the game, then Toronto picked up lead in the next two jams, along with 3 points. They repeated this pattern again over the next three jams.

The first big scoring opportunity came in Jam 7, as Jan Trainor put 13 points on the board for Windy City while Toronto’s jammer cooled her heels on the box. However, in the very next jam, back-to-back cutting penalties for Windy’s Zombea Arthur allowed Toronto to add 20 points to their total and take the lead for the first time in the game. Another spate of jammer penalties for Toronto allowed Windy City to take the lead back two jams later, with a score of 59-46.

Photo by Ryan Quick

Windy City seemed to feed off of this momentum for much of the rest of the period and would not relinquish their small lead, although Toronto stayed hot on their heels. On several jams, relentless recycling from Windy blockers like Kristina Rago, Legal Tenderizer and Abita! tied up Toronto’s jammers in the pack, allowing their own jammers to put up multiple scoring passes. While Toronto’s defense was often able to contain Windy’s jammers long enough to get lead and a single scoring pass, they weren’t able to close the gap.

At halftime, Windy City led 106-82.

The Chicagoans carried the momentum as the second half began, holding Toronto scoreless for five jams as they build their lead to 142-82. Toronto offered strong defensive efforts from their power blocking trio of Renny Rumble, Ames to Kill and Lady Gag-Ya, who in Jam 7 of the second half tied up Windy City’s jammer for more than a minute. However, for most of the second period, they weren’t able to do enough offensively to get their jammers through the similarly strong defense on Windy City to close the gap.

After another pair of Toronto jammer penalties allowed Windy City to further build their lead, the Canadians reset and grabbed some much-needed momentum. The defense forced Windy jammer Mia Go Hamm to pass the star after a hit from Mia Culprit sent her flying into the infield while Bala-Reina picked up 4 unanswered points. Mad Megz, Bala-Reina and Lexi Con were able to get lead and points in four of the next five jams, but it wasn’t enough to close up the large lead Windy City had built up for most of the half.

Windy City regained control with two high-scoring jams to run out the clock, closing out their weekend with a 215-138 win. Windy City Rollers finish the tournament in 9th Place. Toronto Roller Derby takes 10th Place.

FINAL SCORE

Toronto Roller Derby (#138) 138
Windy City Rollers (#5) 215