Apr 27, 2015 | Bout News
Minnesota RollerGirls All-Stars Win Big Over Windy City
The Minnesota RollerGirls All-Stars kicked off their 2015 WFTDA season in grand fashion last night, earning a convincing victory over their longtime rivals, the Windy City Rollers All-Stars (Chicago, IL).
Minnesota’s blockers set the tone for the entire game by shutting down a power jam during the scoreless opening jam. Minnesota jammer Shiver Me Kimbers committed a track cut in the opening seconds, giving Minnesota the job of containing Windy City jammer Jan Trainor, which they did convincingly. After Diamond Rough ran Trainor back to avoid a track cut from the infield, Hurtrude Stein and Sampson stuck on Trainor in a forwards/backwards brace known as the “boat and anchor”. That gave enough time for Kimbers to serve her penalty then escape from the pack and force Trainor to call off the jam 0-0.
Fannie Tanner scored first blood for Minnesota with a quick 4 points on the next jam, then Minnesota jammers Hurtrude Stein, Second Hand Smoke and Jacked Pipes notched up the score on subsequent jams while the Minnesota pack continued to hold the Windy City Rollers at 0. That brought Minnesota’s score up to 19-0 before Ms. Dr. Joseph L. Simonis (“Dr. Josie”) took advantage of a power jam opportunity to muscle their way to 8 points and make the score 19-8 Minnesota with 21 minutes remaining in the half.
Shiver Me Kimbers and Fannie Tanner showed on the next two jams that Minnesota was going to run away with it. Kimbers made a sneaky tiptoe through the inside line twice in a row while Minnesota blockers contained Windy’s jammer for 9 points, then Fannie Tanner took advantage of a power jam and some deft offensive blocking from Diamond Rough and MadRad to rack up 22 points, making the score 50-8 with 18 minutes left in the half. Minnesota continued to run up the score through the first half, with Kimbers, Pipes, Fannie, and Second Hand Smoke all contributing big jams, leading to a 171-29 lead going into halftime.
That pattern continued through the second half, with Minnesota’s jammer rotation scoring big while Windy City jammers were pinned against Minnesota blocking lines. Minnesota made excellent use of a “box” formation, with two forward-facing blockers braced against two backwards-facing blockers, all ready to shift and transition as the opposing jammer tried to dodge around them. Windy City started to make some progress against Minnesota late in the second half, with Jan Trainor, Killa Nois, and Dr. Josie each taking advantage of chaotic packs to earn lead jammer and win back some of the advantage from Minnesota. Windy blockers Hoosier Mama and Tay Q. Down started to be able to smash holes in a tiring Minnesota wall to free their jammers from the pack.
That late surge was not enough to overcome the scoring advantage built by the MNRG All-Stars, however, and Minnesota ended the game with a 283-78 victory. The win ends the years-long winless streak that Minnesota had suffered at the hands of Windy City and shows the depth of the Minnesota RollerGirls organization that has been able to maintain a top-level team despite losing some very excellent skaters to moves and retirement. Minnesota’s next test will come on a road trip to Baltimore in May where they’ll play Charm City and Philly.