Vancouver, BC

By Culta Skaro

The Terminal City Rollergirls of Vancouver, BC, CAN, were able to land a big win to end their run at the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Vancouver. The tournament hosts took fifth place for the weekend after beating the Queen City Roller Girls of Buffalo, NY, USA on Sunday night, 239-133.

Photo by Jennifer Evans

The game began with a good back and forth between the two teams, alternating lead jammers and keeping the score within a few points. A forceful performance by Terminal jammer Maiden Sane in the fifth jam started a growing lead, however, quickly throwing 28 points on the board to Queen City’s 4 points.

Terminal City’s defense proved challenging for Queen City all afternoon as rapid recycling and long runbacks kept jammers tightly locked down. While jamming for Terminal in the second half, Drago was sent to the box twice in one jam for successive track cuts, yet effective blocking kept Queen City scoreless for the full two-minute jam.

Photo by Keith Bielat

Penalties on Queen City’s side had a bigger impact on their game, allowing Terminal to rapidly widen their lead in the second half of the game. Though Queen City began the half down by just 41 points, Terminal quickly expanded their lead and were ahead by 125 points halfway through the period, putting an impressive 94 points on the scoreboard and keeping Queen City to just 10 points in that time. Terminal City took advantage of double penalties by Librawlian, which gave Kim Janna the run of the track for Terminal before she was sent to the box on a track cut at the end of the jam. That penalty was overturned through an Official Review by the Terminal City bench before the next jam, however, allowing the team to send Bazinga out on the line with the star.

Despite a loss for the game, Queen City still had plenty to celebrate — their sixth place finish was a strong improvement from the #9 seed they came into playoffs with. The commanding 239-133 victory for Terminal landed them fifth place for the weekend, defending their #5 seed. This game also marked one last win for the Vancouver hometown crowd for Terminal City’s Kim Janna and Eve Hallows, both of whom had announced their retirement from the game.

Final Score

Terminal City Rollergirls (#5) 239
Queen City Roller Girls (#9) 133