Defending champion Ljubljana and Asiago are in the finals

Michele Marchetti shoots Asiago into the final
Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey is in the final of the Alps Hockey League for the third time. The champions of 2018 beat HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice with 2:1 in the decisive fifth game of the semifinal series. The Slovenians have reached the semifinals in every season so far, but they have never managed to reach the finals. They also lost out to Asiago in the semifinals for the second time in a row. In the season of 2016/17, they also lost in the deciding game.

Both teams were cautious at the start of the fifth game of the series. No player wanted to make the first mistake. Unsurprisingly, the first period ended goalless. But the game changed right at the start of the second period. Stefano Marchetti of Asiago was awarded a penalty for tripping in the 22nd minute of play. For the Slovenians it was the first powerplay of the game, which they promptly used. Jaka Sodja was on the spot and scored in the 24th minute to make it 1:0 for the hosts. Jesenice's lead lasted about ten minutes before Asiago's Michele Marchetti took control of the game. First, the 26-years-old Italian scored the equalizer (34.). Just four minutes later, the left wing even put the guests in the lead (38.). For Marchetti, it was already goals four and five in the semifinal series.

With the narrow, but not undeserved lead of Asiago the second period ended. In the final period, the guests played very disciplined and kept Jesenice away from their own goal for most of the period. In the end, the home side didn´t score the equalizer, which is why Asiago made their third AHL final perfect. In the previous finals, they lost against the Rittner Buam with 1:4 in the first season 2016/17. In the following season (2017/18) they succeeded against Ritten with 4:3.



Ljubljana in the final for the second time in a row
Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey's opponent in the finals will be defending champion HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana. The Slovenians, who already led with 2:0 in the "best-of-5" semifinal series against the EHC Lustenau, won the decisive game clear with 5:0.

Ljubljana managed a lightning start. Aleksandar Magovac scored the opening goal for HKO after only six seconds. It was also the fastest goal in AHL history. The shock of the early goal was deep-seated for Lustenau. In the first period, the Austrian team conceded three more goals. First Miha Logar (12./PP1) increased the lead to 2:0. 15 seconds later Miha Zajc scored the 3:0. In the 19th minute Ziga Pance made the 4:0 lead perfect. The EHC only had four shots on goal in the entire opening period. HKO, for comparison, shot 18 times on the goal of Anthony Morrone, who already conceded twice as many goals in the first 20 minutes of the game as in the previous two games combined.

In the second period, Ljubljana reduced the number of shots. Nevertheless, they managed to score one more goal. Ziga Pance scored his second goal of the evening in the 31st minute of the game. In total, it was already his 28th goal of the season. With a score of 5:0, the second period ended and so did the game. In the final period, Ljubljana was already saving energy for the upcoming final. Lustenau was not effective enough in front of the goal this evening, which is why they remained without a goal of their own for the second time in the series. The 2019 AHL champions from Ljubljana will now face Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey in the final. Both teams will duel for the first time in the Alps Hockey League playoffs. This season, the H2H between the two teams is one to one. Overall, Ljubljana has a clear lead in the H2H with 8:2. Game one of the "best-of-5" final series will already take place on Tuesday, April 20th in Ljubljana.



Alps Hockey League:
HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice – Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey 1:2 (0:0, 1:2, 0:0)
Referees: REZEK, VIRTA, Basso, Snoj.
Goal JES: 1:0 Sodja J. (24./PP1)
Goals ASH: 1:1 Marchetti M. (34. Cassetti L.), 1:2 Marchetti M. (38. Mantenuto D.)

HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana – EHC Lustenau 5:0 (4:0, 1:0, 0:0)
Referees: HLAVATY, LESNIAK, Bergant, Puff.
Goals HKO: 1:0 Magovac A. (1. Stebih M. – Music A.), 2:0 Logar M. (12./PP1 Pance Z. – Vallerand M.), 3:0 Zajc M. (12. Vidmar L. – Brus N.), 4:0 Pance Z. (19. Ropret A. – Logar M.), 5:0 Pance Z. (31./SH1)

Copyright: HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana