2017 D1 Playoffs Seattle Game 9: Windy City vs. Tampa
Windy City Rollers (#9) vs. Tampa Roller Derby (#7)
The first game in the consolation bracket of the a
Tampa won their first game against Ann Arbor Roller Derby of Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. but lost to the Angel City Derby Girls of Los Angeles, California, U.S., while Windy City lost to 2×4 Roller Derby of Buenos Aires, Argentina in a tough game on Friday. Similar to their game against 2×4, the All-Stars struggled to find a strong wind that could propel them ahead of Tampa, but they put up an impressive fight against a team who had just shown in Day 1 of the tournament that they could battle with the best of them.
In the first period, the teams split lead down the middle and shared an even amount of jammer penalties, with Tampa picking up three to Windy City’s four. Tampa regularly killed off those penalties, but Windy City’s defense showed to be more inconsistent, struggling at times to compete against Tampa’s offensive strategies.
Tampa’s defense was tight, with agile blockers who recycled quickly, trapping Windy City’s tiring jammers. Still, Windy City’s Mia Go Hamm managed to pick up 62 points, making her the highest scoring jammer of the game for both teams. Windy City had a tougher time consistently locking down the deep bench of Tampa jammers: Taz Maniac, the high scorer in the game for the Tantrums with 62 points, followed by Winters with 51 points, Tara Her Apart with 43 points, and Smooth Operator with 34. But Windy City was able to keep the score close early in the first half — at one point coming within three points of Tampa when Bambi Bloodlust grabbed 15 to Tara Her Apart’s 5. Windy City would stay within a narrow differential after this, but those three points would prove to be the closest they would get, as Tampa widened their lead to 111-88 by halftime.
Tampa continued to earn lead jammer more consistently than Windy City in the second period, but where they really capitalized was on power jams. Each team had picked up five jammer penalties — but it was Tampa’s smart, aggressive offense whenever the Windy City jammer was in the box that allowed them continuously stretch out their lead. This paired with Tampa’s dynamic walls of three and the tenacity of their strong jammers allowed them to control the remainder of the game.
Despite Tampa’s grueling defense, Windy City’s Mia Go Hamm often succeeded with speed, and when she was able to catch Tampa on a turn she would sail right over the apex. In the last jam of the game, she jumped the apex twice to grab the final points for Windy City as the clock expired. It was an exciting finish, but not enough to close the gap and the game ended with Tampa defeating Windy City 222-150.
Both teams complete the tournament higher than when they entered on Friday. Tampa finishes in fifth place, moving up two spots from their seventh seed, and Windy City jumps from the ninth seed to finish in sixth.
FINAL SCORE
Tampa Roller Derby (Seed #7, WFTDA #21) 222
Windy City Rollers (Seed #9, WFTDA #28) 150
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