Ritten is new leader of the Master Round | Important win for Lustenau

Thanks to a 4:1 home win over previous league leader S.G. Cortina Hafro, the Rittner Buam SkyAlps moved to the top of the Master Round. For the South Tyroleans it was the second win in the second match of the intermediate round. For Cortina it was the first defeat in the third game, which is why the Italians slipped back to the second place in the table, equal on points with Ritten. For Ritten it was already the fourth win in a row. After 24 minutes the South Tyroleans were leading 2:0, before Cortina could reduce the score to 1:2 in the 32nd minute. Shortly before the end of the second period, Marco Insam restored the two-goal advantage in the power play. In the final period, they finally made everything clear with an empty-net goal two minutes before the end.

Young Bulls defeat Unterland
Bottom of the table Red Bull Hockey Juniors celebrated their first win in the second game of the Master Round. Against league newcomer Hockey Unterland Cavaliers, the Young Bulls won with 3:2. For the South Tyroleans it was the second defeat in the third game. They are in third place in the standings. Until about seven minutes before the end of the game, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors were still in front 2:0, before Unterland could equalize within four minutes to make it 2:2. Again only 37 seconds after the equalizer it was Daniel Assavolyuk who scored the game-winner for RBJ, who celebrated their second win in the third AHL duel with Unterland.

Zell am See loses in Sterzing
The leader of Qualification Round A, EK Die Zeller Eisbären, conceded a 3:4/SO defeat at the dWipptal Broncos Weihenstephan. As a result, the team from Pinzgau is still two points ahead of second-placed HC Gherdeina valgardena.it, who beat last-placed Steinbach Steel Wings Linz 3:1. The Broncos are still in fourth place in the table and thus outside the pre-playoff places. However, they have just as many points as third-placed Fassa. Against the Polar Bears, the South Tyroleans were leading 3:1 until eight and a half minutes before the end of the game, when Henrik Neubauer scored his second goal of the night and Christian Jennes tied the game. In the shootout it was Markus Gander who scored the decisive penalty for the Broncos.

Gherdeina had problems for a long time against the Steel Wings before Simon Pitschieler made everything clear with the goal to make it 3:1 85 seconds before the end of the game. For the South Tyroleans it was the third win in the third duel of the season over the Upper Austrians, who still have to wait for their first AHL win against Val Gardena.

Lustenau passes Merano
The EHC Lustenau won clearly with 6:2 at the HC Meran/o Pircher and passed the South Tyroleans in the standings and is now in second place in Qualification Round B and thus on pre-playoff course. The Vorarlberg team's lead on fourth place is four points. Meran is third, two points ahead of fourth-placed Bregenzerwald. Although the home side from South Tyrol took the lead after just 37 seconds, the visitors from Lustenau then pulled away to 5:1 until five and a half minutes before the end of the game. Maximilian Wilfan was the only player to score twice.

The EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel remained at the top of the Qualification Round B standings, beating the EC-KAC Future Team 3:2 after overtime. The decision was made by Rasmus Lahnaviik 73 seconds before the end of overtime. The Future Team, in fifth place in the table, is three points behind the third place. In the third duel of the season, it was the third win for the Eagles, who are already nine points ahead of the fourth place.

Alps Hockey League | 26.01.2023:
Master Round:
Red Bull Hockey Juniors - Hockey Unterland Cavaliers 3:2 (1:0, 1:0, 1:2)
Referees: LEHNER, RUETZ, Eisl, Reisinger. | Zuschauer: 74
Goals RBJ: 1:0 Maier O. (10. Auer L.), 2:0 Auer L. (39./PP1 Maier O. – Steffler D.), 3:2 Assavolyuk D. (57. Steffler D. – Maier O.)
Goals HCU: 2:1 Haarala S. (53. Markkula M.), 2:2 Markkula M. (57. Kaufmann M. – Haarala S.)

Rittner Buam SkyAlps - S.G. Cortina Hafro 4:1 (1:0, 2:1, 1:0)
Referees: LAZZERI, LEGA, Basso, De Zordo. | Zuschauer: 477
Goals RIT: 1:0 Hofer A. (12. Tavi J. – Fink K.), 2:0 Mäkelä A. (24. Fink K. – Prast J.), 3:1 Insam M. (40./PP1 Fink K. – Kostner S.), 4:1 Spinell M. (59./EN/SH1 Insam M. – Hawkey H.)
Goal SGC: 2:1 Barnabo L. (32. De Zanna R. – Adami F.)

Qualification Round A:
Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan - EK Die Zeller Eisbären 4:3/SO (0:1, 2:0, 1:2)
Referees: HOLZER, MOSCHEN, Fleischmann, Spiegel. | Zuschauer: 201
Goals WSV: 1:1 Zecchetto A. (23. Eisendle P.), 2:1 Jokinen J. (38. McBride S. – Giftopoulos R.), 3:1 Maylan J. (41.), 4:3 Gander M. (65./SO)
Goals EKZ: 0:1 Neubauer H. (11. Wilenius T. – Ban D.), 3:2 Neubauer H. (52. Widen F. – Putnik P.), 3:3 Jennes C. (56./PP1 Wilenius T. - Hämäläinen A.)

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it - Steinbach Steel Wings Linz 3:1 (1:0, 1:1, 1:0)
Referees: BENVEGNU, BULOVEC, Jeram, Pace. | Zuschauer: 689
Goals GHE: 1:0 Sölva M. (17. Sullmann Pilser M. – Willeit C.), 2:1 Kasslatter H. (34. McGowan B. – Brugnoli J.), 3:1 Pitschieler S. (59. Luisetti M. – Sullmann Pilser M.)
Goal SWL: 1:1 Lahtinen N. (30./PP1)

Qualification Round B:
EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel - EC-KAC Future Team 3:2/OT (1:0, 0:0, 1:2)
Referees: SCHAUER, WIDMANN, Rinker, Telesklav. | Zuschauer: 421
Goals KEC: 1:0 Niemelä J. (13. Pallierer T. – Bolterle P.), 2:1 Szabad K. (56. Pallierer T. – Geifes T.), 3:2 Lahnaviik R. (64./OT Kuronen J. – Niemelä J.)
Goals KFT: 1:1 Tialler C. (50. Klassek S.), 2:2 Theirich M. (59. Unterluggauer N. – Waschnig L.)

HC Meran/o Pircher - EHC Lustenau 2:6 (1:2, 0:1, 1:3)
Referees: BAJT, STEFENELLI, Arlic, Bergant. | Zuschauer: 425
Goals HCM: 1:0 Brunner P. (1. Tomasini P.), 2:6 Berger J. (58. Fuchs J. – Mitterer T.)
Goals EHC: 1:1 Larsen M. (8. Puschnik K. – Wilfan M.), 1:2 Wilfan M. (10. Hrdina S.), 1:3 Puschnik K. (34./PP1 Wilfan M.), 1:4 Wilfan M. (41./PP1 D´Alvise C. – Larsen M.), 1:5 Wilfan M. (55./SH1 König D.), 1:6 König D. (57. Gratzer S.)

Copyright: Max Pattis