Wichita, KS

By Shelly Shankya

Game 13, the first game of Day 3 at 2016 International WFTDA D2 Playoffs in Wichita, Kansas, was a rough and tumble match between the Chicago Outfit Roller Derby Syndicate of Chicago, IL, USA (seed #9, WFTDA #60) and the Carolina Rollergirls All Stars of Raleigh, NC, USA (seed #10, WFTDA #62). The match featured many a penalty, and the Syndicate used their relatively clean play to pull through for the win and to maintain their #9 seed. The Chicago Outfit won, 249-173.

Photo by Danforth Johnson

By the third jam of the game, with just seven minutes elapsed in play, the teams had accrued 13 penalties – nine for the Chicago Outfit and six for Carolina. Both teams also lost a jammer to the penalty box in those opening minutes, and Carolina took the opportunity to pull away as jammer Ice Hurt for the Syndicate sat in the box; jammer Ava Gore slid through the pack repeatedly and picked up 27 points for the first lead change of the game. All within the first seven minutes.

Carolina managed to hang on to the lead for the next several jams, pulling away 57-28, but then Lola Blow stepped to the jammer line for the Syndicate, and, with a 23-point jam, brought the game within reach for Chicago. Two back-to-back power jams for the Syndicate – jammer Ginger Clobbers went to the box on a track cut, followed by Ava Gore’s trip for a star pass violation – helped them eclipse the All Stars 66-57 with just over 15 minutes to play in the first half.

Penalties continued to plague Carolina, and the Chicago Outfit used the continuous pack advantage to outscore Carolina All Stars 76-4 over the course of the last 10 jams of the first period. Carolina blocker Jojo Gadget ended the period with six penalties; Electra Q. Tion had five, and blockers Crank DaT Crank, Deanne T. Krist, and Ginger Clobbers had four. The team ended the period with 35 penalty trips in the first half compared to Chicago Outfit’s 21.

“When we did have the pack advantage, we really focused on jammer defense,” Chicago Outfit captain and jammer Lola Blow said. “Ultimately, we just had to trust each other and hold our ground.”

The second period saw Carolina rally, scoring 32 points over two jams, though penalties continued to be a problem. The team gave up five power jams to the Chicago Outfit over the course of the second half, during which time the Syndicate scored 56 points. Jammer Lola Blow donned the pivot cover during jams to give other jammers Slippin Cider and Shebiscuit a chance to put a notch on the scoreboard. During one jam as pivot, Lola Blow forced a track cut on Carolina jammer Ava Gore, opening the way for teammate Shebiscuit.

“We had to do some mental resets [during Carolina’s rally],” Lola Blow said. “We just sat down after each jam, talked about what we could improve, and we worked to reset before the next jam.”

Carolina blockers Crank DaT Crank, Deanne T. Krist, and Jojo Gadget fouled out of the game during the last eight minutes of play, and the Syndicate outscored the All Stars 42-29 to secure their win and to maintain their tournament seeding in ninth place.

“It’s awesome that we won this game and ended at ninth,” Lola Blow said. “We came into this tournament not knowing what the outcome would be, and we just wanted to maintain.”

With the win, Chicago Outfit Roller Derby Syndicate maintains their seeding at #9; similarly, Carolina Rollergirls All Stars stick at seed #10.

Final Score

Chicago Outfit Roller Derby (#9) 249
Carolina Rollergirls (#10) 173