Ljubljana, Jesenice and Asiago advance to the semifinals

Ljubljana reaches semifinals after shutout
The reigning AHL champion takes the first hurdle in playoffs with confidence. HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana beat Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 3-0 in the best-of-five quarterfinal series to advance to the Alps Hockey League semifinals. The Slovenians prevailed 6-0 in the third quarterfinal game. The winner of the regular season controlled the game right from the start and took a 1:0 lead through Nik Simsic in the 7th minute. Žiga Pance increased the lead to 2:0 in the 15th minute. The 32-year-old veteran and two-time Olympian has yet to score in any quarterfinal game this season, extending his goal-scoring streak to four games. The Slovenians kept the upper hand in the middle period as well. Ljubljana's latest addition, Marc-Olivier Vallerand, who scored the game-winner on Tuesday, made it 3-0 on a backhander less than a minute into the period, and the Broncos could do little to counter the physical play. Anze Ropret added a rebound in powerplay before Pance made it 5-0 with his second goal of the night on a breakaway down the left side. Sterzing could not recover from the goals against in the final period either and finally had to concede defeat with 0:6 after a goal by Aleš Mušič in the final period. With a total of 17 goals in the quarterfinals, Ljubljana fixed its second semifinal appearance in the Alps Hockey League. After their first semi-final appearance in the 2018/19 season, the team later crowned themselves champions.

Asiago takes first match point in "Derby Veneto" to advance
Migross Supermercati Asiago prevailed 3-0 in the "Derby Veneto" series and is in the semi-finals of the Alps Hockey League for the third time after "sweep". But the Yellow-Red team had to fight hard for all three victories against S.G. Cortina Hafro. The upper Italians created a clear plus of chances in the first period. As in the first quarterfinal game in Asiago, Alex Frei opened the scoring for the hosts in the first period. Lorenzo Casetti set up the former Rittner Buam striker with a precise pass into the attacking third for the 1:0. The match became a bit rougher in the middle period and Cortina created good chances especially in powerplay. As so often in this series, the team from the province of Belluno was stopped by goalie Gianluca Vallini. Asiago was more efficient: Defender Alexander Gellert made it 2-0 with a powerful and precise blueliner from the right boards, the puck hitting Marco De Filippo exactly in the cross corner. Shortly before the second intermission, Cortina was rewarded for a strong third period: Massimo Cordiano scored the equalizer in the 39th minute and gave his team hope that the season would not have to end on Thursday. Cortina continued to push for the equalizer at the start of the final period. However, the hosts remained the more efficient team and in the 49th minute established like a 2-goal lead: Daniel Mantenuto captured the puck in the neutral zone and initiated the breakaway via Miche Marchetti. Once again Alex Frei finished with his second goal of the match. The guests tried everything to fight back, but remained luckless on this evening. Marchetti made the final result of 4:1 with an emptynetter. Cortina finally ended the playoffs without having won a game, just like in the 18/19 season. Asiago, on the other hand, can be happy about their third semifinal appearance in the Alps Hockey League.

Lustenau records clear opening win against below-strength HCP
Thursday also saw the start of the quarterfinal series between HC Pustertal and EHC Lustenau. Due to medical precautions in connection with COVID-19, an earlier start of the series, which will therefore be played in "best-of-3" mode, was not possible. The first minutes were quite even. Lustenau had more of the game, Pustertal - who were short of players - remained dangerous mainly in quick counterattacks. In the 17th minute Lucas Haberl surprised Pustertal's goalkeeper Colin Furlong in the short corner to give the visitors the lead. Despite further opportunities for Lustenau, it went into the first intermission with this close result. In the middle period, the Vorarlberg team made things clear. After an ideal assist by Renars Karkls, Chris D'Alvise scored in the 24th minute to make it 2:0 for the EHC. Lustenau kept the game fast and had scoring opportunities almost every minute. After a Haberl pass, the free-standing Stefan Hrdina (32nd) increased the lead to 0:3. Only two minutes later Chris D'Alvise finished a solo run on the right side with a backhand shot into the short corner for 4:0. HCP goalie Colin Furlong then left the ice, replaced by backup Hannes Stoll. However, it only took another three minutes before he too conceded his first goal against. Arturs Ozolins took advantage of a power play in the 36th minute to score the fifth. While Elias Wallenta provided the final goal in the third period, EHC goalie Lukas Reihs celebrated a shutout with 27 saves. Game two of the "best-of-3" series will take place on Saturday in Lustenau.

Jesenice wins after trailing
Game three of the series started with a novelty, this time Gardena took the lead. After just 64 seconds, Patrick Tomasini set up Joonas Niemelä, who only had to get the puck into the net. The lead did not last long, however, because in the sixth minute Zan Jezovsek fired home a one timer to equalise. The home side then had more of the game and took the lead for the first time this evening in the 17th minute through Mirko Dumic, who poked the puck over the line. The 2:1 lead was also the score going into the first break. After the restart, both sides had their first penalty of the game. But it took until the third power play, which brought the guests the equaliser in the 30th minute - the puck was deflected by the skate of a Jesenice defender into his own goal. A true playoff fight on equal terms was to be decided by a goal in the third period. After an attack via the right side, Timotej Kocar finished into the far corner. The Slovenians defended this narrow 3:2 lead until the end. In the final second, goalkeeper Zan Us made an incredible save to preserve the victory. Jesenice thus managed a quarterfinal sweep for the third time in their AHL history.

Alps Hockey League | Quarterfinals| Thursday, 1st of April 2021:
HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana – Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 6:0 (2:0,3:0,1:0)
Referees: GROZNIK, LESNIAK, Arlic, Snoj. |
Goals HKO: 1:0 HKO Simsic N. (06:55 / Vallerand M. ,Pesut Z. / EQ), 2:0 HKO Pance Z. (14:31 / Ropret A. ,Vidmar L. / EQ), 3:0 HKO Vallerand M. (20:59 / Simsic N. ,Pulli J. / EQ), 4:0 HKO Ropret A. (31:09 / Music A. / PP), 5:0 HKO Pance Z. (31:53 / Brus N. ,Stebih M. / EQ), 6:0 HKO Music A. (42:37 / Vallerand M. ,Logar M. / PP)

Final result in the „best-of-5“-series: 3:0

Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey – S.G. Cortina Hafro 4:1 (1:0,1:1,2:0)
Referees: BENVEGNU, PINIE, Mantovani, Rigoni
Goals ASH: 1:0 ASH Frei A. (10:31 / Casetti L. ,Marchetti M. / EQ), 2:0 ASH Gellert A. (29:23 / Tessari M. ,Vankus M. / EQ), 3:1 ASH Frei A. (48:52 / Marchetti M. ,Mantenuto D. / EQ), 4:1 ASH Marchetti M. (59:09 / Frei A. ,Mantenuto D. / EQ)
Goals SGC: 2:1 SGC Cordiano M. (38:28 / Cazzola M. ,Pietroniro C. / EQ)

Final result in the „best-of-5“-series: 3:0

HC Pustertal – EHC Lustenau 0:6 (0:1,0:4,0:1)
Referees: MOSCHEN, VIRTA, Cristeli, De Zordo, Pichler
Goals Lustenau: 0:1 EHC Haberl L. (16:42 / Wallenta E. ,Slivnik D. / EQ), 0:2 EHC D'Alvise C. (23:03 / Karkls R. ,Connelly B. / EQ), 0:3 EHC Hrdina S. (31:40 / Ozolins A. ,Haberl L. / EQ), 0:4 EHC D'Alvise C. (33:26 / Wilfan M. ,Krammer A. / EQ), 0:5 EHC Ozolins A. (35:12 / Karkls R. ,D'Alvise C. / PP), 0:6 EHC Wallenta E. (45:14 / Reihs L. / EQ) 

Score in the „best-of-3“-series: 0:1

HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice – HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 3:2 (2:1,0:1,1:0)
Referees: PAHOR, REZEK, Bergant, Miklic.
Goals Jesenice: 1:1 JES Jezovsek Z. (05:53 / Tomazevic B. ,Urukalo Z. / EQ), 2:1 JES Dumic M. (17:12 / Rajsar S. ,Svetina E. / EQ), 3:2 JES Kocar T. (47:41 / Glavic G. ,Masic B. / EQ)
Goals Gröden: 0:1 GHE Niemelä J. (01:04 / Tomasini P. ,Nedved O. / EQ), 2:2 GHE McGowan B. (29:35 / Niemelä J. / PP)

Final result in the „best-of-5“-series: 3:0

Photo: Vito De Romeo