Ritten and Val Gardena book Pre-Playoff tickets | Tight games in the Master Round

Ritten and Val Gardena advance to the Pre-Playoffs
Rittner Buam SkyAlps and HC Gherdeina valgardena.it dominat Qualification Round B and secured early qualification for the Pre-Playoffs. Only 48 hours after their 3:2 road win in Jesenice, league leaders Ritten followed up with a convincing 6:0 home victory. Val Gardena, meanwhile, backed up their 2:0 away win in Bregenzerwald on Tuesday with a clear 5:2 success at home. In the standings, Ritten lead with 11 points, one ahead of Val Gardena, while third-placed Jesenice and Bregenzerwald both remain on three points. These two teams will therefore battle it out for the final Pre-Playoff spot in this group.

In Ritten’s dominant home win, Diego Cuglietta was the player of the game. The center scored the goals for 1:0 and 2:0 and also provided the assists for the 4:0 and 5:0. Goaltender Colin Furlong stopped all 31 shots he faced to record his fourth shutout of the season.

In Val Gardena’s clear home victory in front of 1,100 fans, Simon Pitschieler and Carmine Buono both shone with two-goal performances. After just 27 minutes, the Furie were already comfortably leading 5:1.

Narrow home win for Asiago against Salzburg
Regular-season winners Red Bull Hockey Juniors continue to struggle in the Master Round. In their third game, the second-placed team suffered a second defeat – albeit a narrow one – losing 1:2 to fourth-placed HC Migross Asiago, who now trail the Juniors by just one point. In front of 1,500 fans, Asiago got off to a strong start and were already 2:0 up after 14 minutes thanks to goals from Lucas Chiodo (8th minute) and Nick Porco (14th minute, power play). The Juniors pulled one back through Paul Oberhauser in the 36th minute, but Asiago’s defense and goaltender Rudy Rigoni held firm for the remainder of the game, sealing Asiago’s second win in their fourth meeting of the season with Salzburg.

Sterzing win high-scoring-game in Sisak
In their fourth Master Round game, the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan claimed their first victory. In a goal-filled contest in Sisak, the Broncos triumphed 6:5 in a shootout. Despite the win, they remain bottom of the table with three points, while Sisak stay in third place despite suffering their second loss in three games. The Croatians took the lead in the seventh minute, but by the 24th minute the Broncos had surged ahead 4:1, with Bryson Cianfrone scoring twice. Driven on by more than 1,500 fans, Sisak refused to give up and cut the deficit to 3:4 by the 40th minute. Kim Sang Yeob then equalized in the 43rd minute. It was already his second goal of the evening, and in the 53rd minute he completed his hat trick to put the hosts ahead 5:4. Sterzing responded, leveling the score in the 55th minute through Alex Zecchetto. All goals from 3:4 to 5:5 were scored on the power play. With no further goals in regulation time or overtime, the game went to a shootout, where Franco Sproviero converted the decisive penalty for Sterzing.

Drama in Qualification Round A
After four of six matchdays, everything remains wide open in Qualification Round A. HC Meran/o Pircher moved into first place with their 4:1 home win over the Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel, level on points with S.G. Cortina Hafro, who lost 2:4 at the Hockey Unterland Cavaliers. Unterland climbed to third place with the win and are now just one point behind the leading duo. Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel dropped to last place – also only one point off the top. The final two matchdays promise high drama.

Meran initially fell behind after Moritz Matzka gave Kitzbühel the lead in the 11th minute. Goals in the 24th and 32nd minutes turned the game around, before two late goals in the final 20 seconds sealed the decision.

Unterland also trailed early, but surged ahead 3:1 by the 22nd minute. After Cortina reduced the deficit in the 40th minute, the match remained tense until the very end. Only 20 seconds before the final buzzer did the hosts seal the win with an empty-net goal.

Alps Hockey League
Thu, 19.02.2026
Master Round:
KHL Sisak - Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 5:6/SO (1:2, 2:2, 2:1, 0:0)
Referees: LEBEN, VOICAN, Legat, Preiser
Goals SIS: 1:0 Zavrski F. (7.), 2:4 Yeob K. (26.), 3:4 Larionovs D. (40./PP1), 4:4 Yeob K. (43./PP1), 5:4 Yeob K. (53./PP1)
Goals WSV: 1:1 Cianfrone B. (11.), 1:2 Zandegiacomo L. (20.), 1:3 Kruselburger L. (23.), 1:4 Cianfrone B. (24.), 5:5 Zecchetto A. (55./PP1), 5:6 Sproviero F. (65./PS)

HC Migross Asiago - Red Bull Hockey Juniors 2:1 (2:0, 0:1, 0:0)
Referees: HOLZER, STEFENELLI, Fecchio, Rinker
Goals HCA: 1:0 Chiodo L. (8.), 2:0 Porco N. (14./PP1)
Goal RBJ: 2:1 Oberhauser P. (36.)

Qualification Round A:
HC Meran/o Pircher - Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 4:1 (0:1, 2:0, 2:0)
Referees: MOSCHEN, VIRTA, Dummermuth-Haas, Zacherl
Goals HCM: 1:1 Fuchs J. (24.), 2:1 Cruseman F. (32./PP1), 3:1 Cruseman F. (60./EN), 4:1 Gellon D. (60.)
Goal KEC: 0:1 Lippitsch J. (11.)

Hockey Unterland Cavaliers - S.G. Cortina Hafro 4:2 (2:1, 1:1, 1:0)
Referees: BULOVEC, SNOJ, Bergelj, Miklic
Goals HCU: 1:1 Eriksson J. (8.), 2:1 Galassiti G. (15./PP1), 3:1 Potsinok M. (22./PP1), 4:2 Galassiti G. (60./EN)
Goals SGC: 0:1 Pompanin F. (3.), 3:2 Sanna M. (40.)

Qualification Round B
Rittner Buam SkyAlps - HDD Jesenice 6:0 (1:0, 2:0, 3:0)
Referees: PINIE, WINKLER, Abeltino, Brondi
Goals RIT: 1:0 Cuglietta D. (14.), 2:0 Cuglietta D. (32./PS), 3:0 Kostner S. (39.), 4:0 Crespi J. (48.), 5:0 Spornberger L. (59.), 6:0 Öhler R. (60./PP2)

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it - EC Bregenzerwald 5:2 (3:1, 2:1, 0:0)
Referees: BENVEGNU, SORAPERRA, Cristeli, Rivis
Goals GHE: 1:0 Buono C. (7.), 2:1 Pitschieler S. (14.), 3:1 Luisetti M. (14.), 4:1 Pitschieler S. (23./SH1), 5:1 Buono C. (27.)
Goals ECB: 1:1 Laaksonen T. (10.), 5:2 Brunner S. (35.)

Copyright: Max Pattis