Tucson, AZ

By Lexistential Crisis

In the first quarterfinal game of the 2015 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Tucson the 2nd seed Bay Area Derby Girls of Oakland, California met the 7th seed Terminal City Rollergirls of Vancouver, British Columbia. In June Bay Area took a dominant win of 278-75 and won by a similar margin of 251-77 today. Terminal City played a very tough regular season schedule that also included large losses to Rose City, Denver, and Rocky Mountain and a single-point victory over Rat City last month. Both teams put on a defensive showcase, but Bay Area was able to create more effective walls in order to limit Terminal City’s scoring.

Photo by Donna Olmstead

Terminal City started the game strong as they earned lead jammer status in the first two jams and put up a quick 12 points. At the end of the second jam, Kim Janna committed a back block penalty. Terminal City’s Eve Hallows, Palmer, and Sundown formed a dynamic, controlled wall that prevented Skrappie from breaking out of the pack for 20 seconds. Bay Area took the lead with a score of 13-12 and continued to grow that lead throughout the rest of the first half. Unlike the braced walls common for many teams, Bay Area’s defense was focused on a flush, straight wall with everyone facing forward. Blockers would use a brace only for a short time to regain speed control before they returned to a hip-to-hip wall. By the fourth jam Bay Area had started utilizing their strength to control Terminal City’s jammers and began building a stronger lead. Halfway through the first half, Bay Area led with a score of 77-18. Both teams slowly added to their score, as jammers struggled to break through the solid packs. At halftime Bay Area led with 126 points over Terminal City’s 62.

The second half looked like a different game, as Bay Area came out strong and seemed to consistently increase their defensive strength. Terminal City’s jammers struggled to break out of the pack while their blockers were split up much more easily than they were in the first half. Eve Hallows and Green Machine had many moments of brilliance as they glued themselves to Bay Area’s jammers, but it wasn’t enough to keep them from nearly doubling their score. Bay Area’s point denial was the highlight of the second half. Liza Machete, Demanda Riot, Skatelyn, Brawllen Angel and all their teammates worked together to only allowed Terminal City to score 15 points.

Photo by Bill Zingraf

Terminal City only earned lead jammer status three times in the second half, and those were the only times they were able to score. Maiden Sane earned lead and scored one point in the first jam of the half to bring their score to 63. Bay Area’s blockers began to work together even more seamlessly in the second half and they started by holding Terminal to 63 for five jams. Meanwhile, Bay Area grew their lead to over 100 points to 170.

Terminal City earned lead for the second time with 22 minutes left in the game, and brought the score to 170-67. By consistently shutting down Terminal City’s jammers Bay Area held them scoreless for the next 12 jams. Bay Area’s solid five-jammer rotation took turns earning lead for those 12 jams and added 79 points to bring the score to 250-67 with four minutes left to play. In the following jam, Skrappie was the first and only Bay Area jammer to commit a penalty in the second half. Simonius Smaximus cleared the outside of the Bay Area wall to allow Evada Peron to earn lead jammer status and add ten points to Terminal City’s score. The final jam was an appropriate end to a heavily defensive game as both teams created slow, solid walls to trap the jammers. Bay Area earned one final point to bring the score to 251-77.

Scoring was spread evenly through four Bay Area jammers, proving the depth of their bench. Lulu Lockjaw scored 69 points and Skrappie, Huck Sinn, and Fluezy were close behind with 54, 51, and 51 points. Maiden Sane was once again Terminal City’s most successful jammer with 31 points. Tomorrow at 2:00 pm MST Bay Area will play in the semifinals against the #3 Seed Arch Rival. Terminal City moves to the consolation brackets to play Arizona or Team United tomorrow at 4:00 pm MST.

Final Score

Bay Area Derby Girls (#2) 251
Terminal City Rollergirls (#7) 77