Zell am See heads into the international break as league leaders

In an entertaining top match between SIJ Acroni Jesenice and the Rittner Buam SkyAlps, the home side from Slovenia won 5:3. The first 64 seconds of the game were already very exciting. Luc Slivnik put Jesenice ahead after 43 seconds, but Ethan Szypula equalized for the visitors just 21 seconds later. After an extended period of even play, Jesenice brought the crowd to cheer for the second time in the 28th minute. Shortly afterwards, Slivnik increased the lead to 3:1 with his second goal of the evening, celebrating his first brace of the season. Just under two minutes later, Diego Cuglietta reduced the deficit to 2:3 for Ritten. In the final period, it took until the 44th minute before Tadej Cimzar made it 4:2 and just a short time later Jasa Jenko scored to decide the game for the fourth-placed team, who are now just two points behind the “Buam”, who are in third place and have already suffered their third defeat in a row.

Commanding away win for Zell am See
League leaders EK Die Zeller Eisbären had no problems at the new bottom of the table HC Gherdeina valgardena.it and won 5:2. It was the third win in a row for the team from Pinzgau, who are now four points ahead of their closest rivals Kitzbühel. The “Polar Bears” were already 3:1 ahead after the first period and even extended their lead to a comfortable 5:1 with 15 minutes remaining. Nick Huard was the only player to score twice. It was the forward's first brace of the season.

Cortina with a strong performance against Kitzbühel
The finalists of the past two seasons, S.G. Cortina Hafro, beat second-placed Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 4:2 at home. After the 6:0 home win against leaders Zell am See, it was the Italians' second impressive home win in a row. They also inflicted the first defeat on Kitzbühel after five wins in a row. Cortina remain in sixth place in the table. Luca Barnabo put the home side ahead against the “Eagles” (14.). In the second period, they increased their lead to 3:0 with goals from Filippo Pompanin (27.) and Marco Sanna (34./PP1) and were even 4:0 ahead after 44 minutes. In the final seven minutes, Kitzbühel were only able to add two goals to the score.

Sterzing turns up the heat in the final minutes
The Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan defeated EC Bregenzerwald 3:1 and celebrated their fifth win in a row. The team in ninth place in the table scored all three goals in the last seven minutes of the game. In a game with few goals for a long time, the visitors from Vorarlberg only took the lead in the 51st minute through Ben Summer. It was the forward's first goal of the season. However, this deficit apparently served as a wake-up call for the Broncos. Only a short time later, they equalized through Leon Hasler (53.). Just under two minutes later, they turned the game around completely through Luciano Zandegiacomo. Adam Capannelli then scored an empty-netter shortly before the end to make the final score. Bregenzerwald thus suffered their third defeat in a row and are in twelfth place in the table. In the first duel of the season, the ECB had the upper hand with 4:3.

Merano turns the game around against Celje
In the fifth game of the day, HC Meran/o Pircher won 3:2 against HK RST Pellet Celje. The visitors from Slovenia were already 2:0 ahead after the first period. In the second period, the home side equalized the score and it was not until 142 seconds before the end of the game that Teruto Nakajima scored the game-winner in favour of the South Tyroleans. HCM's first win after four defeats in a row meant it handed the red lantern to Val Gardena and climbed to eleventh place in the table. Celje, which suffered its second defeat in a row, remains seventh in the table.

Alps Hockey League:
Sat, 07.12.2024:
Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan - EC Bregenzerwald 3:1 (0:0, 0:0, 3:1)
Referees: MOSCHEN, SORAPERRA, Cusin, Formaioni, | Spectators: 691
Goals WSV: 1:1 Hasler L. (53.), 2:1 Zandegiacomo L. (56.), 3:1 Capannelli A. (60./EN)
Goal ECB: 0:1 Summer B. (51.)

SIJ Acroni Jesenice - Rittner Buam SkyAlps 5:3 (1:1, 2:1, 2:1)
Referees: OREL, VOICAN, Legat, Preiser. | Spectators: 400
Goals JES: 1:0 Slivnik L. (1.), 2:1 Urukalo Z. (28.), 3:1 Slivnik L. (33.), 4:2 Cimzar T. (44.), 5:2 Jenko J. (46.)
Goals RIT: 1:1 Szypula E. (2.), 3:2 Cuglietta D. (35.), 5:3 Insam M. (47./PP1)

HC Meran/o Pircher - HK RST Pellet Celje 3:2 (0:2, 2:0, 1:0)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, KAINBERGER, Eisl, Fleischmann. | Spectators: 300
Goals HCM: 1:2 Gellon D. (30.), 2:2 Pietroniro M. (38./PP1), 3:2 Nakajima T. (58.)
Goals HKC: 0:1 Bernard J. (7.), 0:2 Jakupovic A. (18.)

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it - EK Die Zeller Eisbären 2:5 (1:3, 0:1, 1:1)
Referees: LEHNER, MOIDL, Brondi, Moidl. | Spectators: 432
Goals GHE: 1:2 Prosofsky K. (13./PP1), 2:5 Windegger M. (47.)
Goals EKZ: 0:1 Huard N. (6.), 0:2 Widhalm L. (10.), 1:3 Jennes C. (20.), 1:4 Huard N. (35./PP1), 1:5 Johansson R. (45./PP1)

S.G. Cortina Hafro - Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 4:2 (1:0, 2:0, 1:2)
Referees: LEBEN, PIRAS, Grisenti, Javornik. | Spectators: 430
Goals SGC: 1:0 Barnabo L. (14.), 2:0 Pompanin F. (27.), 3:0 Sanna M. (34./PP1), 4:0 Alvera T. (45.)
Goals KEC: 4:1 Hochfilzer H. (54.), 4:2 Ren J. (60.)