Madison, WI

By Vile Love It

After defeating ninth seeded Ohio Roller Derby earlier in the day, the eighth seeded Windy City Rollers from Chicago, IL, USA advanced in the bracket to take on the number one seed of the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Madison: Gotham Girls Roller Derby from New York, NY, USA. Over the past five years of playoffs, Gotham has beaten their first round opponent by an average of 498 points while keeping the points scored against them to a 17.6 average. The New Yorkers remained consistent today with a blowout 491-13 victory against Windy City.

Photo by Ryan Quick

Gotham was merciless, starting off the game with a 25-0 jam from Bonnie Thunders as Windy City’s highest scoring jammer, Killanois, was smothered in the back of the pack by Caf Fiend, Bonita Apple Bomb, OMG WTF, and Sexy Slaydie. Bonnie Thunders was the highest scoring jammer for Gotham, contributing 222 points to her team’s total. Following her, Miss Tea Maven scored 105, ShortStop score 91, and Vicious van GoGo scored 73. The tightly locked-down defense of their blockers contributed in large part to the success of Gotham’s jammers, as they were afforded plenty of time to exit the pack penalty-free and put up multiple scoring passes. By the end of jam seven, Gotham had earned 90 points while keeping Windy City scoreless.

Photo by Danforth Johnson

But in jam eight, Windy City proved that they were still in the game as Killanois picked up lead and a grand slam, putting five points on the board. They continued to have moments of success throughout the game—in jam 12, Killanois earned lead jammer status and grabbed a single unanswered point against Bonnie Thunders.

When all four Windy City blockers could coalesce, they were able to hold Gotham’s jammers, until offense would come sweeping in, opening doors in the wall. But Windy City’s blockers struggled to remain as a unit since their focus would shift to releasing their own jammer once Gotham picked up lead. This often allowed Gotham’s jammers to slip easily through the pack on high-scoring runs.

Though Windy City displayed impressive stamina and sportsmanship, Gotham monopolized the gameplay and were unrelenting in their march towards victory. They closed the game 491-13, and will take on the #4 seed Tampa Roller Derby on Saturday 2:00 p.m. Central Time. Windy City will move to the consolation bracket, where they’ll play the loser of Game 8 on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. (CT).

Final Score

Gotham Girls Roller Derby (#1) 491
Windy City Rollers (#8) 13