2017 D1 Playoffs Dallas Game 4: Queen City vs. Houston

Queen City Roller Girls (#6) vs. Houston Roller Derby (#11)

In Game 4 of the 2017 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Dallas, the Queen City Roller Girls of Buffalo, New York, U.S. (Seed #6, WFTDA #18) went up against Houston Roller Derby of Houston, Texas, U.S. (Seed #11, WFTDA #36). Having never faced off before, the two teams took some time in the first half to suss out one another’s style of play, but Queen City’s strong, adaptive defence ultimately won out, earning them a 195-104 victory over Houston.

Queen City came out of the gates forcefully, as LiBRAWLian and GO! grabbed lead jammer status in three of the first four jams, and Crazy Squirrel stole another four points, giving the Lake Effect Furies a 15-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Houston, however, responded with a streak of five lead jammer status jams in a row, and took the lead as Queen City sustained three successive jammer penalties on InSINerator, LiBRAWLian, and GO! Determined recycling by Queen City’s blockers killed one of the power jams, but a fast and disjointed pack also allowed Houston’s EnJen to score a 14-0 jam, bringing them to a 36-15 lead 10 minutes in.

From there, Queen City refocused their defense, cleaned up their penalties, and chipped away at the score until they were able to take back the lead after 20 minutes of play, with a 10-0 apex jump-ending jam by InSINerator. Queen City retained and extended their lead for the rest of the half, taking advantage of Houston’s less fluid box defense and limited offensive play, bringing the score to 78-50 at the end of the half.

The tables turned in the second half of the game, and after receiving zero jammer penalties in the first half, Houston gave up a total of five power jams to Queen City’s two. Queen City was able to capitalize on these opportunities, and used quick offense and a powerful tripod defense to control the game. Heavy hitting by Bricks Hit-House and KonichiWOW broke through Houston’s walls and helped Queen City’s jammers to rack up points, including a 17-0 jam by GO!, which was the biggest jam of the game.

Houston played a clean first half, holding on to the lead for much of the first 20 minutes of the game while Queen City suffered a total of four jammer penalties and fought to take control of the game. After regaining the lead, however, Queen City went into the second half of the game with a tighter and more offensive approach, allowing them to pull away from Houston and nearly double their opponent’s score by the end of the game.

Queen City’s jammers took lead 62 percent of the time, with top jammers GO! and LiBRAWLian earning 64 and 62 points respectively. Houston’s top jammers, EnJen and Diamond Cut-Her, scored 42 and 25 points. In blocking, Queen City was led by Bricks Hit-House, KonichiWOW, and Head Huntress, while Houston’s lead blockers were 2x Force, Bustin’ Beaver, and Kelly Killpowski.

Queen City moves on to play Arch Rival Roller Derby of St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. (Seed #3, WFTDA #8) at noon on Saturday for a chance to go to the 2017 International WFTDA Championships Philadelphia. Houston moves into the consolation bracket and will play either the Minnesota RollerGirls of Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. (Seed #4, WFTDA #11) or the Atlanta Rollergirls of Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. (Seed #5, WFTDA #13)  at 2 p.m. Sunday.

FINAL SCORE

Queen City Roller Girls (Seed #6, WFTDA #18) 195
Houston Roller Derby (Seed #11, WFTDA #36) 104

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