2018 Playoffs Atlanta Game 3: Bay Area vs. Queen City
Bay Area Derby (Seed #7, WFTDA #19) vs. Queen City Roller Girls (Seed #10, WFTDA #26)
235
209
In game three of the 2018 International WFTDA Playoffs Atlanta, Bay Area Derby of San Francisco, California, U.S. (Seed #7, WFTDA #19) made a second-half comeback to defeat Queen City Roller Girls of Buffalo, New York, U.S. (Seed #10, WFTDA #26), 235-209.
Getting ready for @qcrg vs @BayAreaDerby. The Furies have top notch jammers but their defense will have to be on point to pull the upset. #talk2wftda #derbytwitter
— damian camacho (@damcam500) September 21, 2018
The two teams, notorious for playing hard, faced off earlier this year, with Bay Area taking a decisive win. From the start of the first half, it was clear that Queen City was hungry to make up for that loss.
Within the first few jams, both teams went tit for tat with solid defense and lead jammer status. Bay Area managed to keep initial control thanks to 27 points earned by Dani Rueda in jam seven. From there, Queen City was able to quickly catch up with solid turns by Sin and Go!, bringing the score 62-57 in favor of Queen halfway into the first period. Bay Area was never able to recover following a slew of jammer penalties that allowed Queen City to enjoy a number of power jams and power jam starts. Strong offense and defense by blockers Chickadeemolish and Murphy and nearly impenetrable tripod walls also allowed Queen City to take lead jammer status several times in a row and keep Bay Area scoreless for several consecutive jams. By halftime, Queen City was holding their lead 119-81.
SIN looks so dang casual collecting all the points #makinitlookeasy #talk2wftda
— Pumpkin Spice Wrath (@wrathrodite) September 21, 2018
Loving the hold and wait from Queen City's blockers, making sure they have the jammer before they do anything else #talk2WFTDA
— DisorderLee 🇬🇧🇪🇺🇹🇹🇻🇨 (@Ms_DisorderLee) September 21, 2018
The second half saw an entirely different Bay Area and Queen City, with both teams appearing to do a complete 180. Bay Area was able to keep jammer penalties low, lock down defense thanks to blocker powerhouses Cassie Beck, Gretchen Vommette and Illuminaughty and enjoy consecutive lead jammer runs. Queen City suffered from multiple jammer visits to the box and scoreless passes.
Queen City held their lead for most of the second period, but Bay Area began staging their comeback early on. Large point gains from Dani Rueda and April Bloodgate narrowed the gap. A lead jammer streak for Bay Area midway through the period and a 23-point run for Frightmeow brought the score 184-172 in favor of Bay Area.
Bay Area continued to build momentum with consecutive 22-point runs by April Bloodgate and Dani Rueda. However, with less than three minutes in the game, Queen City jammers Sin and Librawlian took successful passes, bringing the score to 230-209. In the final jam, Queen City jammer Squirrel went to the penalty box, opening the door for Bay Area’s April Bloodgate to grab a quick five points and call the game. Bay Area closed the game with a 235-209 victory.
THIS WAS EXTREMELY STRESSFUL #Talk2WFTDA https://t.co/Np1CSBXQMx
— T-chills (@TchaiKILLsky) September 21, 2018
Queen City may have lost this bout but they won my heart #wftdATL #talk2wftda
— fr e sh avo ca do (@notgabymena) September 21, 2018
“They really had us running for the entire game, but I’m glad we are able to pull our communication and team work out,” said Bay Area’s Gretchen Vomette in a post-game interview.
Bay Area goes on to play Montréal Roller Derby of Montréal, Québec, Canada (Seed #2, WFTDA #7) at noon EDT on Saturday. Queen City will play Bear City Roller Derby of Berlin, Germany (Seed #12, WFTDA #32) in the consolation bracket at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday.
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