East Playoffs: 7E Boston Holds Off 10E DC, 226-131
BURLINGTON, VT -- When 7 seed Boston and 10 seed DC met in the second opening-round bout of the WFTDA East Playoffs, the game was mostly decided by an ice-cold start and an ice-cold end for the low seed. Boston scored 46 unanswered points to begin action, but DC played them more or less evenly for most of the second half to stay within shouting distance into the last ten minutes. Unfortunately for the underdog fans, Boston whacked DC with a 54-4 run on the final three scoring jams to win big, 226-131.
With less than ten seconds gone, Ginger Kid had the Massacre's their first lead call; twenty seconds later she called it for a quick 4-0. Two jams later Maya Mangleyou put up a 9-0 over Marion Barrycuda as Vixen Ta Hitcha controlled Barrycuda and held her in the pack for almost two full passes.
Vixen was the star in the Boston pack in a 7-0 to make the score 20-0 with five minutes gone. After a 4-0 for Boston's Space Invader, Lenore Gore was sent to the box for a hit after the whistles, handing Ginger Kid a power jam. But Kid took thirty seconds to complete her first pass thanks to the combined efforts of Soledad, Chinese Cheker and Jackie Mae Day in the DC pack; she put up a long 13-0 eventually, despite DC's defensive heroics.
12 minutes passed before DC's first points went up on the board. Lenore Gore did a front roll over one of her own downed blockers at the death, sneaking past the rearmost Boston blocker in the process to make it 47-2.
That signaled something of a resurgence for DC, who narrowed it to 56-14 with 15 minutes left in the half -- though partially on a 9-9 by the whim of Boston jammer Lil Paine, as she tried to run the clock to clear the box of blockers.
The closing eight minutes of the half were dominated by pack penalties for both teams; jammers struggled as neither team could keep more than two blockers on the track. This was typified by a long and messy 17-17 jam between Lenore Gore and Lil Paine to close out the half as blockers kept the penalty box officials very busy. Boston led 104-50 lead into halftime.
10 unanswered points for Boston extended their lead as both teams seemed to clean up their acts in the opening minutes of the second period, before Maya Mangleyou handed DC a power jam with a major back block after being called lead. Barbra Booey only managed five points during that full minute despite being clear of the pack as Maya was boxed. She withered under the defensive attentions of the indomitable Shark Week; DC won the two minute jam 12-9, but the moral victory was Boston's for the impressive penalty kill.
The next jam saw some jammer musical chairs between Maya Mangleyou and Lenore Gore; a chaotic jam saw DC pull a little closer, but Boston led 130-78 with under ten minutes gone in the half. The lead hovered around that 50-point mark until Ginger Kid pushed it to 70 with a 4-2 pack advantage--but was boxed, letting Lenore Gore in to bring it back a little for DC.
Boston jammer Space Invader picked up a major for skating out of bounds, giving DC another chance to come back, but a rapid back block call on Dual Hitizen made things a bit harder on them. DC still won the two-minute jam 14-5 and lessened the deficit to 45 points, the smallest margin since early in the first half with a little over five minutes to go.
But that was where Boston slammed the door. DC jammer Marion Barrycuda was completely stymied by agile boundary line work from Boston jammer Dottie Danger, who forced her out of bounds over and over again. Meanwhile, Lil Paine was putting up lap after lap, scoring 20 before Cuda was boxed -- and 30-0 by the end of the jam. On the other side of the power jam, it was Anna WrecksYa tagging in as the Boston blocker to harass Cuda right back to the penalty box. Ginger Kid put it away for good with a 24-0, making the score 226-131 with 15 seconds left on the clock.
DC forced the final jam with a time out, but Lil Paine got lead, and called it without scoring as the clock expired.
Boston moves on to play Philly in Friday's last game at 8pm; DC will play the loser of Charm City / Steel City.
