Release from 21.03.2025

Clemens Unterweger ahead of semi-final two: “We need a lot of speed and aggression”

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Clemens Unterweger and the EC-KAC are eager for revenge. The defenseman sees the lack of chances in the first game as the main reason for the missed opening win. The two-time win2day ICE Hockey League champion with the KAC, who lead the plus/minus statistics of the current season with +41, will play his 592nd league game today. The 32-year-old has played 78 games in the playoffs so far.

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“We have to play better than we did in the first 40 minutes on Tuesday, when Linz controlled us for the most part. We then took control in the third period and dominated in the first overtime. We had enough opportunities to decide the game, but unfortunately we didn't manage to put the puck in the net. In the 'three-on-three', Linz was the luckier team,” said Clemens Unterweger, analyzing the semi-final opening defeat against Steinbach Black Wings Linz.

On Friday, the KAC will visit the capital of Upper Austria. It will be Linz's first semi-final home game in seven years. In 2018, Linz lost 2:4 to Salzburg in the semi-final series, but the Klagenfurt team wants to prevent Linz from qualifying for the final for the first time since winning the title in 2012. To do so, they first need to equalize the series on Friday. “We have to bring our performance from the third period and the first overtime in the opening game to the ice for 60 minutes on Friday in five-on-five, which means a lot of speed and a lot of aggression. If we can do that, we don't need to change much, we just have to go the full distance,” says Unterweger.

This is the 32-year-old defenseman's seventh season with the EC-KAC. Unterweger celebrated the championship title with Klagenfurt in 2019 and 2021. Prior to that, he also spent several years on the ice for the Moser Medical Graz99ers in the win2day ICE Hockey League. Unterweger has played a total of 591 league games to date. This season, he shines with a plus/minus of +41. Teammate Thimo Nickl follows in second place in this statistic with +32.