Release from 03.01.2024
EC Bregenzerwald entered the Masterround of the Alps Hockey League for the first time on Wednesday, thus qualifying directly for the playoffs. Despite a defeat in Wolkenstein, the team from Vorarlberg can no longer be ousted from the top six. While Sterzing and Jesenice can make it directly into the play-offs on their own, runners-up Cortina slipped to seventh place following a defeat at bottom-placed Klagenfurt.
With ten wins from their last twelve games, EC Bregenzerwald have put themselves in a good starting position in the play-off race. Although the team from Vorarlberg were beaten 5:6 in Gardena on Wednesday, the defeat of Cortina means that the ECB is still firmly in the top six. The Tupamäki team went ahead four times on their visit to Gardena, but Val the hosts always managed to equalise. In a heated final phase, two powerplay goals from the "fury" made the difference. The South Tyroleans, for whom Anthony DeLuca (2G, 1A) and Brad McGowan (3A) each gained three points, moved up to ninth place in the table as a result.
Sterzing and Jesenice on course for the Masterround
In the race for direct play-off qualification, Sterzing celebrated an important 5:4 away win in Lustenau. The Broncos got off to the better start and went into the first break with a 2:0 lead. Alessio Niccolai increased it to 3:0 after the restart and the visitors also had a three-goal advantage after 40 minutes and were 4:1 ahead. However, the Vorarlberg team came back in the third period and even equalised in the 55th minute to make it 4:4, but two and a half minutes later James Livingston decided the game for Sterzing with his second goal of the evening. With their third win in a row, the South Tyroleans have established a good starting position ahead of the final matchday in the regular season.
Jesenice could also make it into the Masterround under their own steam. Although the Slovenians conceded a 2:3 overtime defeat in Zell am See, the point secured their place in the top six. The Pinzgau team went ahead twice in the game, but Jesenice equalised on both occasions. In the 46th minute, Martin Bohinc made it 2:2 for the reigning champions. In over time, it was Fabio Artner who decided the game with his second goal. Zell am See thus finishes the regular season in second place.
The big loser of the matchday was Cortina. The Italians only earned one point against the KAC Future Team, the side at the bottom of the table won 3:2 after shoot-out. After a goalless first period, the visitors took the lead, but the Carinthians turned the game in their favour. In the 57th minute, Gregory Di Tomaso equalised on power play. After a goalless overtime, the Carinthians decided the game in their favour in the shootout. Daniel Obersteiner, who was playing his first game after a long injury lay-off, scored the decisive goal.
Unterland celebrates shutout against Ritten
League leaders Ritten suffered a 1:0 defeat in Neumarkt. In a varied and at times heated encounter, Elmeri Hällfors scored the decisive goal in the 15th minute in the power play. The visitors, who have already been crowned winners of the regular season, were unable to score despite 42 shots on goalie Tizian Giovanelli. With the shutout, Unterland improved to eleventh place.
Away wins for Kitzbühel and Fassa
Kitzbühel got off to an ideal start on their visit to Celje and were already 2:0 up after three minutes. Joonas Niemelä even added a third goal in the middle period. The Slovenians did not give up and got as close as one goal. However, the penultimate team in the table was no longer able to equalise.
The Fassa Falcons celebrated only their fourth away win of the season in Linz. After the Italians initially took the lead twice, the Steel Wings turned the game in their favour in the middle period. However, Fassa turned the game around again with three goals in the third period, with Davide Schiavone scoring the game-winner in the 58th minute.
Alps Hockey League | 03.01.2024
EC-KAC Future Team – S.G. Cortina Hafro 3:2 SO (0:0,1:1,1:1,0:0,1:0)
Referees: FAJDIGA, VOICAN, Dieber, Markizeti.
Goals 0:1 SGC Cuglietta D. (27:08 / Seed J. ,Carozza M. / PP), 1:1 KFT Piuk T. (36:53 / Lippitsch J. ,Slivnik L. / EQ), 2:1 KFT Burgar N. (48:22 / Klassek S. ,Sunitsch M. / PP), 2:2 SGC Di Tomaso G. (56:50 / Juhola J. ,Carozza M. / PP), 3:2 KFT Obersteiner D. (65:00 / GWS)
HK RST Pellet Celje – EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 2:3 (0:2,0:1,2:0)
Referees: MILOVANOVIC, PINIE, Brondi, Javornik.
Goals 0:1 KEC Seto C. (00:19 / Urbanek M. ,Hochfilzer H. / EQ), 0:2 KEC Lehtonen W. (03:15 / Seto C. ,Podlipnik M. / EQ), 0:3 KEC Niemelä J. (39:48 / Rotter R. ,Egger L. / EQ), 1:3 HKC Sotlar J. (42:44 / Kuret B. ,Mintautiskis M. / EQ), 2:3 HKC Grahut N. (47:43 / Sodja Zalokar G. ,Kolar R. / EQ)
Steel Wings LINZ AG – SHC Fassa Falcons 3:5 (1:1,2:1,0:3)
Referees: BROCK, SCHWEIGHOFER, Kanyo, Wendner.
Goals 0:1 FAS De Toni E. (07:00 / Rossi S. ,Schiavone D. / PP), 1:1 SWL Maurer P. (18:15 / Necesany L. ,Sticha T. / EQ), 1:2 FAS Selin S. (20:24 / Sylwander J. ,Näslund V. / EQ), 2:2 SWL Lindner L. (26:40 / Theirich M. ,Brikmanis A. / 5:3 PP), 3:2 SWL Söllinger P. (32:11 / Feldbaumer M. ,Sticha T. / EQ), 3:3 FAS Sylwander J. (46:04 / Selin S. ,Forte F. / EQ), 3:4 FAS Schiavone D. (57:58 / De Toni E. ,Iori D. / EQ), 3:5 FAS Rossi S. (59:34 / Schiavone D. / EQ)
EK Die Zeller Eisbären – SIJ Acroni Jesenice 3:2 OT (1:1,1:0,0:1,1:0)
Referees: MOSCHEN, RUETZ, De Zordo, Hesina.
Goals 1:0 EKZ Wilenius T. (11:33 / Widen F. ,Huard N. / PP), 1:1 JES Lesnicar T. (18:18 / unassisted / PP), 2:1 EKZ Artner F. (35:03 / Wilenius T. ,Widen F. / EQ), 2:2 JES Bohinc M. (45:19 / Cimzar T. / EQ), 3:2 EKZ Artner F. (60:40 / Widen F. ,Huard N. / EQ)
EHC Lustenau – Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 4:5 (0:2,2:2,2:1)
Referees: HUBER, SORAPERRA, Fecchio, Jäger.
Goals 0:1 WSV Gschliesser F. (06:06 / Zecchetto A. / EQ), 0:2 WSV Livingston J. (11:27 / Capannelli A. ,Maylan J. / EQ), 0:3 WSV Niccolai A. (25:28 / Topatigh D. ,Cianfrone B. / EQ), 1:3 EHC Wennlund M. (32:03 / Pietilä V. ,Wilfan M. / EQ), 1:4 WSV Cianfrone B. (35:36 / Conci D. ,Topatigh D. / SH) , 2:4 EHC Hrdina S. (37:04 / Moosbrugger L. ,Wüstner R. / EQ), 3:4 EHC Alasaari F. (45:29 / Johansson M. ,Nußbacher F. / PP), 4:4 EHC Kandemir A. (54:18 / Johansson M. ,Haberl D. / EQ), 4:5 WSV Livingston J. (56:59 / Maylan J. ,Capannelli A. / EQ)
Hockey Unterland Cavaliers – Rittner Buam SkyAlps 1:0 (1:0,0:0,0:0)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, RICCO, Formaioni, Wiest.
Goals 1:0 HCU Hällfors E. (14:06 / Käyrä A. ,Markkula M. / PP)
HC Gherdeina valgardena.it – EC Bregenzerwald 6:5 (1:1,1:1,4:2)
Referees: EGGER, PIRAS, Pace, Rivis.
Goals 0:1 ECB Erne L. (07:06 / Auvinen H. ,Kulintsev D. / EQ), 1:1 GHE De Luca A. (19:37 / Pitschieler S. / EQ), 1:2 ECB Lipsbergs R. (32:15 / Auvinen H. ,Kulintsev D. / EQ), 2:2 GHE Moroder S. (33:42 / De Luca A. ,McGowan B. / PP), 2:3 ECB Embrich E. (40:10 / Lipsbergs R. ,Auvinen H. / EQ), 3:3 GHE Luoto M. (46:52 / Sölva M. ,Glück D. / EQ), 3:4 ECB Embrich E. (47:34 / Lipsbergs R. / EQ), 4:4 GHE De Luca A. (51:03 / Schulze K. ,Hofer P. / PP), 5:4 GHE Luisetti M. (56:53 / Schulze K. ,McGowan B. / PP), 6:4 GHE Kasslatter H. (59:00 / Moroder S. ,McGowan B. / PP), 6:5 ECB Lipsbergs R. (60:00 / unassisted / EQ)