ECDX Preview: (1) Gotham vs (2) Rose City

By Lex Talionis, Last updated Fri Jun 22 2012 4:16pm

FEASTERVILLE, PA -- This Sunday's ECDX meeting between Rose City's Wheels of Justice versus Gotham Girls All-Stars has the potential to be one of the best bouts of the year so far. It pits DNN's current #1 and #2 against each other and should provide an early-season indicator of how likely it is that Gotham can become the first team to retain the Hydra – and be the first team to see their name on it three times.

The game is a rematch of the 2011 ECDX opener that was tight for the first 30 minutes before Gotham pulled away in the second half to win 147-79. That bout was Gotham's narrowest win of their 7-0 regular season last year, with Denver the only other team to come within 100 points of the New Yorkers before championships. Gotham also plays Denver on Saturday of this year's ECDX.

Live on WFTDA.tv at 4:30pm Sunday, June 24.

Gotham are 3-0 for the season with big wins over both underpowered local opposition – Connecticut and Long Island – and their nearest championships-level rival, Philly. While the scoring records they set against Long Island in their opening game might not have stood for that long with London's demolition of Auld Reekie, Gotham are still the only team to have broken the 500-point barrier twice – and both have been this year. Their 211-point victory over local rivals Philly was possibly a better indicator of quite how much Gotham want to retain the Hydra than the 1135 points they put on the board in their first two games.

Rose are 4-0 going into ECDX. While they haven't troubled the record books with any of their victories, their victory over Denver in May looks to have put them in pole position to be the top-ranked Western team heading into tournament season. Their season opening saw Windy City come within three points of a famous upset, but a Rose comeback at the death saw off the challengers from Chicago. Two wins in two days over Texas and Houston on a brief foray into the South Central set up the team from Portland for a clash with what appears to be the toughest team the WFTDA has to offer.

Gotham is sporting a largely unchanged core roster this year. Wild Cherri is their most significant loss – the championships MVP has headed back to her hometown of Atlanta – while long-time blockers B. Zerk and Kandy Kakes have retired. They have picked up two big-name transfers, though: Claire D Way from Boston and Rose City's Mick Swagger, who looks likely to find herself skating against her old team-mates for the first time this weekend.

Also worth looking out for is Gotham rookie Slambda Phage. Phage has burst onto the scene this year, leveraging her competitive ice hockey background to average over 100 points per game in the three bouts this season for Gotham. Anyone doubting her credentials take note: she outscored Suzy Hotrod and Bonnie Thunders combined in the game against Philadelphia.

Rose has seen more roster changeover this year. Only five of the players who beat Rat City at Bridgetown Brawl last year to secure Rose's first Championships trip remained for their bout against Denver last month: Soulfearic Acid, Scald Eagle, White Flight, Mercy and JK Rolling. Mel Mangles could make an appearance to bump that number up to seven, but the rest of Rose's 2011 tournament team seem to have retired from interleague action, at least for now.

Rosters below reflect current 20-skater charters.

00 Ana Bollocks // 2 Donna Matrix // 4 Violet Knockout // 8 Slambda Phage // 16 Brazilian Nut // 31 Hela Skelter // 55 Suzy Hotrod // 68C Sexy Slaydie // 201 Sweet Sherry Pie // 241 Fisti Cuffs // 340 Bonnie Thunders // 404 Hyper Lynx // 500 Paperschnitt // 503 Mick Swagger // 753 OMG WTF // 929 Davey Blockit // 999 Puss N Glutes // 1818 Anne Frankenstein // 1984 Claire D. Way // 8212 Em Dash

2 French Tickler // 3B Texine // 5 Mel Mangles // 11 KicKassedy // 17h The Blast Unicorn // 20 SoulFearic Acid // 28 Minstrel Psycho // 31 Toxic Haste // 47 Penny Dreadful // 50 Scald Eagle // 54 White Flight // 66 Braidy Punch // 73 Frank N. Hurter // 81 Havana Goodtime // 94 Scrappy Go Lucky // 100 Mercy // 210 Heidi Go Seek // 360 Joyride // 934 JK Rolling // 1719 Scylla Devourer