Pustertal moves back to top

Pustertal back to top of Alps Hockey League
In their road game at Cortina, Tommaso Traversa took an early lead for HC Pustertal. However, the hosts turned it around in the first with goals from Kevin King and Remy Giftopoulos. Early in the middle frame Max Oberrauch tied it at two and the decison was made in the third when Pustertal top scorer John Lewis found the back of the net for the game winner. With 19 seconds to go Davide Conci made the game safe. The 4:2 win was Pustertal's 11th successive victory against Cortina and the wolves also went top of the table.

Rittner Buam, who were leading before the game day, dropped one point in an overtime win at Sterzing. Daniel Erlacher scored the first periods lone goal, Slater Doggett and James Milam extended the lead to 3:0 in the second. Sterzing's goalie Jason Bacashihua kept a clean sheet for 40 minutes but after the restart Matt Lane broke the spell. Markus Spinell and Alex Frei forced overtime, where Lane became the hero. It was Ritten's third win in a row.

Thrilling fight for top 6 spots
The Fassa Falcons extended their winning streak to eight with a clear-cut 8:3 in Linz. The Italians had a 4:0 lead after the first and added two more goals after the restart. The Steel Wings pulled back three but Fassa was never in trouble. Lucas Chiodo (two goals, four assists) had a six-point game for the newly 4th-placed falcons, who have a five-point advantage to 7th-placed Asiago.

After losing the last 5, the champion of 2018 came back to winning ways on Satuday as Asiago beat Zell am See 6:1 on the road. Pietroniro and Casetti gave the visitors a 2:0 lead after 20 minutes and Cameron Ginetti added another goal in the second. Only 16 seconds later Jure Sotlar got Zell on the scoreboard but it was not enough this evening. Steven McParland lit the lamp for the preliminary decision, Loschiavo and Pietroniro finished the scoring.

One place ahead of Asiago is the VEU Feldkirch who earned a 4:3 home win against Gherdeina. A brace by Kevin Puschnik and Martin Mairitsch gave Feldkirch an early 2:0 lead, Christoph Draschkowitz put his side 3:0 up before the first intermission. Brad McGowan prolonged his scoring streak for Gherdeina's first of the evening and the "fury" even made it a one-goal game. The league's top scorer Robin Soudek restored the two-goal lead for Feldkirch and this was enough as McGowan just foudn the back of the net once again.

Ban hatt rick get Bregenzerwald a comeback win
Kitzbühel had a 2:0 lead at Bregenzerwald after 37 minutes but could not take this lead to the second intermission. Stefan Soder pulled one back and in the third Daniel Ban turned it around with a hat trick. In the end the hosts got a 4:3 home win, their 6th victory this season.

Alps Hockey League:
Sat, 14.12.2019: Steel Wings Linz - SHC Fassa Falcons 3:8 (0:4,2:2,1:2)
Referees: FICHTNER, REISINGER, Bedynek, Weiss
Goals Linz: 1:6 SWL Mayrhofer M. (26:56 / Freunschlag S. ,Korecky I. / EQ), 2:6 SWL Frühwirt K. (33:58 / Freunschlag S. ,Koudelka P. / EQ), 3:6 SWL Maurer P. (41:27 / Rosenberger A. ,Frühwirt K. / EQ)
Goals Fassa: 0:1 FAS Chiodo L. (03:21 / Roupec D. ,Biondi L. / EQ), 0:2 FAS Mizzi J. (17:28 / Chiodo L. ,Eastman D. / EQ), 0:3 FAS Iori D. (17:59 / Zanet M. ,Castlunger M. / EQ), 0:4 FAS Chiodo L. (19:30 / Mizzi J. ,Biondi L. / EQ), 0:5 FAS Lundstrom L. (21:29 / Chiodo L. / EQ), 0:6 FAS Biondi L. (21:54 / Chiodo L. ,Mizzi J. / EQ), 3:7 FAS Castlunger M. (49:34 / Iori D. ,Lundstrom L. / PP), 3:8 FAS Mizzi J. (52:37 / Chiodo L. ,Spimpolo G. / EQ)

Sat, 14.12.2019: VEU Feldkirch - HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 4:3 (3:0,0:1,1:2)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, LAZZERI, Cristeli, De Zordo
Goals VEU: 1:0 VEU Puschnik K. (05:27 / Stanley D. ,Soudek R. / EQ), 2:0 VEU Mairitsch M. (06:15 / Draschkowitz C. ,Samardzic S. / EQ), 3:0 VEU Draschkowitz C. (18:33 / Birnstill S. ,Stanley D. / PP), 4:2 VEU Soudek R. (51:26 / Stanley D. ,Puschnik K. / EQ)
Goals Gherdeina: 3:1 GHE McGowan B. (23:19 / Nedved O. ,Wilkins M. / EQ), 3:2 GHE Wilkins M. (45:50 / Nedved O. ,Nocker P. / EQ), 4:3 GHE McGowan B. (58:37 / Sullmann Pilser M. ,Willeit C. / EQ)

Sat, 14.12.2019: EK Die Zeller Eisbären - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey 1:6 (0:2,1:1,0:3)
Referees: LEHNER, LENDL, Holzer, Matthey
Goal Zell am See: 1:3 EKZ Sotlar J. (22:41 / Putnik P. ,Selan M. / EQ)
Goals Asiago: 0:1 ASH Pietroniro C. (10:40 / Olivero S. ,Forte F. / EQ), 0:2 ASH Loschiavo V. (17:14 / Casetti L. ,McNally B. / EQ), 0:3 ASH Ginnetti C. (22:25 / Tessari M. ,Dal sasso D. / EQ), 1:4 ASH McParland S. (48:00 / Rosa M. ,McNally B. / EQ), 1:5 ASH Loschiavo V. (52:34 / Ginnetti C. ,Gellert A. / EQ), 1:6 ASH Ginnetti C. (59:47 / McParland S. ,Pietroniro P. / EQ)

Sat, 14.12.2019: EC Bregenzerwald - EC 'Die Adler' Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 4:3 (0:1,1:1,3:1)
Referees: BENVEGNU, PINIE, Bedana, Piras
Goals Bregenzerwald: 1:2 ECB Söder S. (37:11 / Ban D. ,Lorraine J. / PP), 2:2 ECB Ban D. (49:29 / Zwerger J. ,Haidinger C. / EQ), 3:2 ECB Ban D. (50:51 / Haidinger C. ,Söder S. / PP), 4:3 ECB Ban D. (55:39 / Lorraine J. ,Söder S. / 5:3 PP)
Goals Kitzbühel: 0:1 KEC Uusivirta L. (06:54 / Schreiber J. ,Havlik A. / PP), 0:2 KEC Maurer N. (36:49 / unassisted / SH), 3:3 KEC Bolterle P. (54:05 / unassisted / EQ)

Sat, 14.12.2019: Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan - Rittner Buam 3:4 OT (1:0,2:0,0:3,0:1)
Referees: STEFENELLI, SUPPER, Moidl, Wimmler
Goals Broncos: 1:0 WSV Erlacher D. (11:30 / Bustreo P. ,Lemay M. / PP), 2:0 WSV Doggett S. (21:17 / Lemay M. ,Bustreo P. / EQ), 3:0 WSV Milam J. (34:54 / Lemay M. ,Doggett S. / PP)
Goals Ritten: 3:1 RIT Lane M. (40:48 / Kostner S. / EQ), 3:2 RIT Spinell M. (45:04 / Lutz A. ,Obuchowski R. / EQ), 3:3 RIT Frei A. (56:36 / Lane M. ,Kostner S. / EQ), 3:4 RIT Lane M. (63:00 / Kostner S. ,Lutz A. / EQ)

Sat, 14.12.2019: S.G. Cortina Hafro - HC Pustertal Wölfe 2:4 (2:1,0:1,0:2)
Referees: GAMPER, RUETZ, Martin, Rinker
Goals Cortina: 1:1 SGC King K. (10:43 / Lacedelli R. ,De Filippo Roia M. / EQ), 2:1 SGC Giftopoulos R. (13:10 / Bruneteau N. ,Adami F. / SH)
Goals Pustertal: 0:1 PUS Traversa T. (05:18 / Carozza M. ,Hofer A. / EQ), 2:2 PUS Oberrauch M. (21:09 / Carozza M. ,Helfer A. / EQ), 2:3 PUS Lewis J. (52:23 / Gander M. ,March G. / EQ), 2:4 PUS Conci D. (59:41 / Helfer A. ,Brighenti Moretti T. / EQ)

Photo: Oskar Brunner