Release from 02.04.2024

Salzburg reaches the finals after an overtime thriller

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EC Red Bull Salzburg and HCB Südtirol Alperia delivered a thriller in the seventh and decisive semi-final match of the win2day ICE Hockey League that was hard to beat in terms of excitement. Nicolai Meyer, who had already won the title for the Red Bulls against the Foxes last season, scored the decisive goal in the 62nd minute. EC Red Bull Salzburg is therefore not only the final opponent of EC-KAC, but also secured the third and final ticket for the 2024/25 Champions Hockey League after Klagenfurt and Hydro Fehérvár AV 19.

The final between EC-KAC and EC Red Bull Salzburg will kick off on Friday at 7:30 pm in Klagenfurt as well as on PULS 24 and JOYN.

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In the opening period of the decisive game seven between EC Red Bull Salzburg and HCB Südtirol Alperia, both teams initially played with mutual respect and cautious probing. As the game progressed, however, the hosts from Salzburg gradually took control, although the first dangerous scoring opportunity came from the visitors from Bolzano - but a shot off the post prevented Salzburg from going behind early on. Shortly afterwards, the home side also found their attempt stopped by the aluminum. As the crowd began to settle in for a goalless first period, Florian Baltram forced a momentous puck loss for the South Tyroleans in their defensive zone. His decisive intervention in the build-up allowed Troy Bourke to ideally serve his teammate Lucas Thaler in the slot. The 22-year-old Austrian seized the opportunity and scored with 14 seconds left in the period to give his team a 1:0 lead.

At the start of the second period, Mike Halmo was handed a game misconduct, which gave the Red Bulls a five-minute power play. However, this phase in numerous advantage was unsuccessful. After the end of the short-handed period, Christiano Digiacinto was called into the Foxes' first attacking line. Even though Salzburg continued to have more of the play, the 28-year-old Canadian - now acting as Halmo's replacement - finally distinguished himself by scoring the equalizer. In the 34th minute, Digiacinto surprisingly got to the puck in front of Atte Tolvanen's goal, which bounced back off the boards. The forward, who was only signed in February, didn't take long to make it 1:1.

Buoyed by the equalizer, HCB Südtirol Alperia set the tone for the final period. In the 52nd minute, the Salzburg team made a momentous mistake in the build-up. Daniel Mantenuto set up Luca Frigo, who gave the Foxes their first lead of the evening. It was Frigo's third goal in the last three games. However, Salzburg only needed 83 seconds to reply, which came in the person of Troy Bourke: First, Tyler Lewington advanced the puck towards the goal, where Bourke skillfully put his stick down. Neither team was able to score any more goals in regulation time, meaning the game went into overtime for only the third time in a seventh game since the league was founded.

In overtime, history repeated itself from the previous season: Nicolai Meyer, who was only re-signed by Salzburg in February 2024 after his championship-winning goal in 2023, scored the game-winning goal in the 62nd minute to end HCB Südtirol Alperia's season.

For the first time in 13 years, the final series is now EC-KAC against EC Red Bull Salzburg. After 2009 (champion EC-KAC) and 2011 (champion Salzburg), the two teams will battle for the Karl Nedwed Trophy in the final for the third time. The final will kick off on Friday at 7:30 pm in Klagenfurt and on PULS 24 and JOYN.

EC Red Bull Salzburg - HCB Südtirol Alperia 3:2 OT (1:0,0:1,1:1)
Referees: STERNAT, ZRNIC, Nothegger, Riecken.
Final score in the best-of-7 series: 4:3
Goals RBS: Thaler (20.), Bourke (54.), Meyer (62.)
Goals HCB: Digiacinto (34.), Frigo (52.)