2019 Championships Game 5: Rose City v Philly

Rose City Rollers (Seed #1) v Philly Roller Derby (Seattle #3)

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Reigning WFTDA Champs Rose City Rollers of Portland, Oregon, USA (Seed #1, WFTDA #1) came out swinging in their first game at the 2019 International WFTDA Championships Montréal against Philly Roller Derby of Philadelphia, PA, USA (Seattle #3, WFTDA #8). Though Philly was able to keep the game within reach throughout the first half, Rose City poured it on in the second, earning a convincing victory with the score of 205-50.

Rose’s Loren Mutch earned lead in the first jam and put up 2 points, and though Philly’s Herrmann countered with lead in the next, Rose’s defense held her scoreless while Bonnie Thunders snuck one point before the call-off. Philly’s Rousey put up her team’s first two points a few jams later, but Rose responded with a string of 5 leads, taking the score to 25-2.

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Philly’s VanEssa V-Diva Sites demonstrated strong one on one blocking skills as the last line of defense at the top of the pack. When joined by blocking partner Russian Bayou, the formidable pair frequently held the Rose City jammers long enough to give the Philly jammers a chance to spring free.

For Rose, Gal of Frey was a notable blocker, often stymying jammers in the middle of the pack, taking away their speed and all hopes of escape.

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Midway through the first half, Philly capitalized on a Loren Mutch track cut, with Reptar grabbing 7 points to bring Philly within striking distance at 27-13. Herrmann, the leading scorer in Philly’s earlier win against Texas, added 2 more, bringing the score to 27-15. Rose countered with another run, earning lead jammer in the next 5 and pushing their lead out to 55-15. Philly’s Reptar would then get another power jam opportunity as Zip exited on a track cut, adding 8 points to bring the score to 55-23. Again, Rose again erupted, closing out the half with 4 more lead jammer statuses earned, and a 77-27 lead.

While Rose City took the majority of lead jammer statuses (16/23) in the first half, Philly was able to limit the damage by quickly getting their jammers out, forcing Rose to call jams off before they could complete multiple scoring passes. The same would not hold true for the second half. Loren Mutch put up a 8-0 in her first jam of the second, taking advantage of a cut track penalty to Reptar. Two more penalties to Reptar in quick succession allowed Bonnie Thunders and Beyond ThunderDame to add to the total. Rose City quickly and steadily pulled away, denying Philly scoring opportunities with stingy defense from the likes of Tarantula and Tenacity, who had standout games in the pack.

Throughout the second half, Rose City put up points in every jam but one, as Bonnie Thunders put an exclamation point on the effort with a 16-0 jam with just over 2 minutes remaining. At the final whistle, the score was Rose City 205 – Philly 50.

After the game, Gal of Frey spoke about Rose City’s preparation for playoffs and Champs, stating: “It’s very important for us to focus on each other and how we can collectively improve. We’ve been focusing on teamwork and strategy and cohesion rather than individual skills.”

Rose City moves on to face Arch Rival Roller Derby (Seed #4) on Saturday at 8pm, with a spot in the Championship game on the line.

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