Columbia, SC

By Lexistential Crisis

The 15th game of the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Columbia featured Malmo, Sweden’s Crime City Rollers (Seed 5) and Manchester, England’s Rainy City Roller Derby (Seed 7). Crime City lost to Atlanta on Friday, but defeated Steel City and Columbia to make it to the 5th place game today. Rainy City defeated Steel City and Santa Cruz and lost to Jacksonville on their route to the top of the consolation bracket.

Photo by Louis E. Keiner

The lead changed three times before Crime City slowly built up to the 30-point lead held at halftime. The low score represents how effective the defense was for both teams. Seven minutes into the game, Crime City’s Frix Rode, Tjutet, Dykestalker, and Sister Stitch halted Wilde while her teammates Fay Roberts, Menace, and Liz Yeatman stopped Prince Sofia for the whole two-minute jam. Crime City continued to hold strong defensive walls, even with blockers in the box, but toward the end of the second half, Rainy City was struggling to stay on the track and together.

Crime City took the lead around the 14-minute mark with a score of 33-32. Rainy City was only able to add 11 points for those final 14 minutes, but Crime City successfully added 40 points thanks to Curly Håår and Hanna P. At halftime, Crime City led by 30 points with a score of 73-43.

Photo by Louis E. Keiner

Rainy City started the half with six consecutive jams with lead jammer status. In that time, they were able to inch closer toward Crime City by scoring 24 points. A few of those points were earned on a power jam as a result of an official review that Rainy City retained. After that run, Crime City responded by taking advantage of jammer penalties and locking down their defense. By the 12-minute mark, Crime City held their largest lead of the game with a score of 111-72.

The teams took turns earning lead and scoring points throughout the rest of the game. Rainy City was never far behind Crime City, but when they did earn lead, Crime City’s jammer was often out of the pack right behind them. Crime City’s defense won the game, as they were able to hold jammers longer than Rainy City could. Scoring was even in the second half — each team added 69 points to their score to make the final 142-112.

Curly Håår maintained her high lead jammer in percentage in this game — she earned lead in 10 out of 12 jams and finished the tournament with a lead jammer percentage of 72.1%. She also led scoring for Crime City with 80 points in the game. Hanna P led her team in scoring over the whole weekend with a total of 272 points. Wilde led scoring for Rainy City with 220 points overall and 42 points in this game. Crime City maintained their seeding as they finished in 5th place. Rainy City finished in 6th place and improved their seeding by one.

Final Score

Crime City Rollers (#5) 142
Rainy City Roller Derby (#7) 112