Philly Fends Off Windy City, 70-69

By Dina Discipline, Last updated Wed Aug 12 2009 6:24pm

CHICAGO, IL -- Philadelphia announcer Hymen Heaven sent a clear message to the Windy City Rollers fans in Chicago's UIC Pavilion at the very beginning of the bout on July 25: “Go ahead and boo. We like it. It only makes us stronger.”

This was a harbinger of things to come as the WCR All-Stars, previously undefeated at home, experienced their first loss of the year to the Philly Roller Girls Liberty Belles, 70-69. The one-point differential and low final score proves how closely matched and defense-heavy these two teams are.

You can relive this bout in the archived DNN Video and Text Boutcast.

First Half

The very first jam saw Shocka Conduit facing off against Philly Captain, Teflon Donna. Much to the chagrin of WCR fans,  Teflon Donna sailed through the pack to establish lead jam and managed to put four points on the board while Windy City remained scoreless.

The second jam of the evening featured Windy City co-captain Varla Vendetta on the line with Philly’s Mo Pain. A heavy-hitting WCR defense and a nice assist from Hoosier Mama in the front of the pack propelled Varla to a three point jam.

As the game progressed, the pack became increasingly physical with big hits all around. Blossom Bruiso took out Philly jammer Persephone with a massive check in jam three, but that still didn’t prevent her from getting lead jam status. Before she could get too comfortable, however, WCR jammer Athena DeCrime was hot on her trail, forcing her to call the jam.

The heavy defense of both teams kept the score relatively low for the majority of the first half, but unfortunately for WCR fans, Philly’s excellent teamwork resulted in the overwhelming majority of lead jam statuses going to the visiting team. Time after time, the Liberty Belles were able to pick apart Chicago’s defense, enabling their jammers to sail through. In addition, WCR was plagued by penalties, and several key players, such as Megan Formor, were neutralized by frequent trips to the box.

In the latter half of the period, Philadelphia slowly began to build on their lead, but fan favorite Shocka Conduit electrified the crowd with a grand slam in jam 17, bringing the score to 39-21 Philly.

The final jam of the period ended abruptly when Ying O’Fire’s massive hit on Philly jammer,  Mo Pain, resulted in an injury that ended the jam and the half. Mo, while shaken, did recover to skate in the second half. After the buzzer, the score remained 39-21 in Philadelphia’s favor.

Second Half

WCR jammer Shocka Conduit started the period off with a bang by getting the first lead of the half and putting two more points on the board for WCR.  Philly jammer Persephone fought her way past Chicago blockers Malice With Chains and Megan Formor and forced Shocka to call the jam.

The next jam saw Windy City Captain Varla Vendetta facing off against Violet Temper.  Looking very defensive, Varla Vendetta was clearly choosing her moment carefully due to the slow pack. Violet Temper got lead, and Vendetta, trapped behind a wall of blue, was unable to put any more points up on the board.

Windy City phenom Ying O’Fire laid out Philly jammer Gloria Grindem in the next jam, while despite being temporarily held up on the line by Philly blocker Nina Knockout, WCR jammer Athena DeCrime managed to score four more points for Chicago.

In the sixth jam of the half, Philly’s Robyn Drugstores ironically sent visiting ref Statisfier careening into the stats table.

Chicago turned the tide in the seventh jam of the half, when WCR jammer Shocka Conduit brought the crowd to its feet with a pivotal 15 point jam, putting Chicago within five points of Philly.

An official timeout was called as the fans went wild in the stands, chanting “Windy City! Windy City!” Not to be outdone, Philly’s bench responded with “We are Philly! We are Philly!”

With Philly jammer Teflon Donna in the penalty box, Chicago jammer Athena DeCrime had an opportunity to capitalize on a power jam, but a very fast pack and a wall of blue at the front prevented her from doing so. With Athena locked up at the front of the pack, Teflon Donna was out of the box and established lead jam relatively quickly. Her triumph was short-lived however, as powerful hits from Malice With Chains and Blossom Bruiso took her to the outside and introduced her to the VIP section, thus forcing her to call the jam.

With the scoreboard now reading 53-45 Philly,  and the clock winding down, the pressure was on WCR to see if they could turn the tide. Veteran Chicago jammer Varla Vendetta was on the line against Philly jammer Persephone and was determined to do just that.  Blossom Bruiso swept Elle Viento aside for Varla to make a clean getaway while Yvette YourMaker slowed the pack on Varla’s scoring drive, allowing WCR to put three more on the board to bring the score to 53-48 with Philadelphia holding onto the lead.

Philly held Chicago to zero points in the next three jams, but due to some brutal defense from Windy City, they were only able to score 12 of their own.

The 12th jam of the half saw a very small pack for Windy City, with Blossom Bruiso and Tori Adore in the box. Chicago jammer Varla Vendetta wisely sought to kill some penalty time by playing defensively. Unfortunately, as soon as they were out of the box, Ying O’Fire took their place and Philly jammer Gloria Grindem streaked past Nina Millimeter to establish lead. Unfortunately for Varla, Philly blockers Teflon Donna and Heavy Flo  trapped  her in the middle of the pack and forced her to draw a back blocking major.

Philly’s power jam carried over into the next jam as Persephone was the only one on the line. Unfortunately,  there was a wall of black between her and freedom. Malice With Chains took her out with a brutal block and the Philly jammer was sent to the box. Meanwhile, Varla came roaring out of the penalty box, ready to do some damage of her own, but Violet Temper forced her to return to the box with a back block major.

With the score now 65-56, Philly called a timeout to try to hang onto their momentum.

With Varla still in the box, Philly’s Ginger Vitis was the only jammer on the track. Hoosier Mama, Nina Millimeter and Ying O’Fire made her life hell with continuous blocks and she was only able to put four on the board before calling it.

There were huge hits all over the track in the following jam as Chicago favorite Shocka Conduit managed to bring Windy City within four points of their rivals, much to the delight of the fans. The score was then 69-65 Philly. The crowd roared to its feet as the bout neared its end. Only four points separated these two well-matched teams and anything could happen.

Chicago Captain Varla Vendetta was ready to put it all on the line in the next jam against Elle Viento, but she wouldn’t have much help due to WCR penalties that had landed Yvette YourMaker and Blossom Bruiso in the box.  Undeterred, the always-dependable Vendetta deftly sliced through the pack, tying the game at 69 points.

The noise of the crowd was almost deafening as Windy City jammer Shocka Conduit sought to seal the deal against Philly’s Teflon Donna. The two jammers went neck and neck through the pack, but in the last second, Teflon Donna pulled ahead and scored the game winning point to give Philly the win in this thrilling bout.

Photos:  Gil Leora